Private space launch vehicle’s stage-2 test fire successful

Hyderabad: In a significant development towards its upcoming orbital space launch, Hyderabad based Skyroot Aerospace, India's leading space-tech company, has successfully test-fired the Stage-2 of Vikram-1 space launch vehicle, called Kalam-250, at the propulsion testbed of the ISRO, at its Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota on Wednesday.

Vikram-1 launch is slated to be a landmark event for the Indian space sector as its first private orbital rocket launch, and follows the remarkable suborbital space launch of India’s first private rocket- the Vikram-S by Skyroot in November 2022.

The test, which lasted 85 seconds, recorded a peak sea-level thrust of 186 kilonewtons (kN), which will translate to a fully expanded vacuum thrust of around 235kN in flight. The Kalam-250 is a high-strength carbon composite rocket motor, which uses solid fuel and a high-performance Ethylene-Propylene-Diene terpolymers (EPDM) thermal protection system (TPS).

The stage houses a carbon ablative flex nozzle along with high precision electro-mechanical actuators for thrust vector control of the vehicle, which helps the rocket achieve the desired trajectory. Stage-2 is a critical stage in the ascent of the launch vehicle, as it propels it from atmospheric phase to the deep vacuum of outer-space

“This is a significant milestone for the Indian space industry, marking the successful test of the largest propulsion system ever designed and manufactured by the Indian private sector so far, and the first carboncomposite-built motor tested at ISRO. All test parameters are within expected bounds, and this achievement takes us another step closer to the upcoming orbital launch of the Vikram-1 rocket,” said Skyroot Aerospace Co-Founder and CEO, Pawan Chandana.