Chennai: Making a giant leap towards orbit, Hyderabad-based spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace has successfully tested the third stage of its Vikram-1 Rocket christened after missile scientist and former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
It was named Kalam-100 and the third stage tested for 102 seconds. In a post on X, the spacetech startup said “the third stage of our Vikram-1 launch vehicle, Kalam-100 roared to life for over 102-seconds – equipped with an advanced flex nozzle for precise thrust vector control.”
“The latest test builds on the success of the previous fixed-nozzle static fire test.
Kalam-100 generates a peak vacuum thrust of 100kN at an operating area ratio of 60 in
flight” it wrote.
“This is a success engineered by many – people and computers: Our passionate teams at Skyroot, In-house developed Automatic Launch Computer and a suite of Vikram-1 flight
avionics, including our Mission Computer, to emulate flight conditions and test as we fly;
Cutting edge sensors to capture 150+ data channels and invaluable partners at Solar
Group who provided both casting and test bed support”, it said.
“One giant leap toward orbit!”, it added.
While the rocket is named Vikram-1 after Vikram Sarabhai, the third stage has been named
Kalam-100.
The test was conducted at Solar Group’s testbed at Nagpur which has a stake in Skyroot.
