Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 to lift tech demos, robotic arm, art to orbit

Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 will carry technology demonstrations, a robotic arm experiment and artwork as India prepares for its first privately developed orbital rocket launch

With India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket, Vikram-1, by Skyroot Aerospace gearing up for liftoff, payloads ranging from a robotic arm and technology demonstrations to artworks will be onboard its debut mission.

 

On its maiden orbital launch, Vikram-1 will carry technology demonstration payloads from Grahaa Space, Cosmoserve Space, Dcubed, and Skyroot’s own Scope, along with Cosmos Diamonds’ artwork Cosmic Bloom and MicroArt. The historic launch, dubbed Mission Aagaman, will mark the maiden orbital flight of Skyroot’s privately developed Vikram-1 rocket.

 

Also flying aboard Vikram-1 is Embrace, the payload mission developed by Cosmoserve Space. During the mission, the robotic arm will remain attached to Vikram-1’s payload deck while carrying out its planned demonstration. Among the key technology demonstration payloads on the first flight is a microscopic artwork depicting three legendary scientists — Sir C V Raman, Vikram Sarabhai, and former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

 

“India’s space sector is witnessing a remarkable phase of innovation and entrepreneurship, and missions like Vikram-1 are helping expand opportunities for emerging space companies to demonstrate and scale their technologies," said Ramesh Kumar V, cofounder and chief executive officer of Grahaa Space. “We are pleased to be part of this mission through Solaras, which represents an important milestone for Grahaa as we continue to develop next-generation satellite platforms from India. We are grateful to Skyroot for enabling this opportunity and look forward to contributing to the growth of India’s space ecosystem," he added.

 

“Mission Aagaman has given us a platform to rapidly send our systems to space and test them. Through this mission with Skyroot, we accelerated our soft robotic capture technology from concept to flight-ready in just four months, advancing the space debris removal capabilities being developed at Cosmoserve. This mission marks an important milestone in advancing technologies that will enable future in-orbit servicing and orbital sustainability," said Chiranjeevi Phanindra, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cosmoserve Space.

 

In addition to the technology demonstration payloads, Vikram-1 will carry two payloads celebrating creativity and India’s scientific heritage. These include Cosmic Bloom, developed by Cosmos Diamonds, featuring a diamond jewellery creation mounted on an aluminium base plate, and MicroArt by Ajay Kumar Mattewada, an 18K gold rocket holding micro-sculptures of Sir C V Raman, Vikram Sarabhai, (Vikram-1’s namesake), and A P J Abdul Kalam — each smaller than a grain of rice. The artwork pays tribute to three visionaries whose pioneering contributions continue to inspire India’s scientific and space journey.

 

Test Flight-1 is targeted for no earlier than July 12, subject to the completion of assembly and testing operations at the launch site, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre-Sriharikota High Altitude Range, as well as weather, safety, and range clearances. The launch window extends until August 4.

 

“The single most important objective of Mission Aagaman is to capture real in-flight performance data from every system on Vikram-1. We want to understand how the vehicle performs from liftoff through every phase of ascent. This data cannot be fully replicated through ground testing,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace.

 

Mission Aagaman, meaning “the arrival”, marks Skyroot’s second mission following the successful suborbital flight of Vikram-S, the first private rocket to reach space from Indian soil, on November 18, 2022. This will be a partially commercial mission, with the company planning to begin fully commercial launches after one or two successful demonstration flights to orbit. 

Cosmic Bloom by Cosmos Diamonds 

Cosmoserve’s Robotic Arms