India successfullly launches first-ever private rocket; 'a historic moment', says PM Modi

Vikram-S, India's first-ever privately developed rocket successfully lifted off from the Sriharikota spaceport on Friday (18) morning.

The lift-off of the Vikram Suborbital rocket took place at 11:30 am local time from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

"Mission Prarambh is successfully accomplished. Congratulations @SkyrootA Congratulations India! @INSPACeIND," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted, tagging Hyderabad's Skyroot Aerospace deveoped the 'Prarambh' mission and Vikram-S rocket with support from ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).

The rocket is carrying payloads of two Indian and one international customers into space.

"89.5 Kms peak altitude achieved. Vikram-S rocket meets all flight parameters. It's history in the making for India. Keep watching," Skyroot Aerospace tweeted attaching a YouTube link of the flight.

Jitendra Singh, India's minister for state in the department of space, on Friday, arrived at Sriharikota for the grand launch of 'Vikram S'.

Taking to Twitter, Singh shared a picture with the team members of Skyroot Aerospace which he captioned, "With #StartUp Team "Skyroot Aerospace" at #Sriharikota, minutes before the launch of the first ever private Rocket, 'Vikram-S', named after Vikram Sarabhai, the founding father of India's Space program. Countdown begins!."

'Vikram-S' is named after Vikram Sarabhai, the founding father of India's space programme.

The 'Prarambh' mission and the Vikram-S rocket have been developed by Skyroot Aerospace in Hyderabad with support from ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre). The rocket is carrying payloads of two Indian and one international customers into space.

With the groundwork starting around late 2020, Vikram-S has been developed within a record time of two years which is powered by solid fuelled propulsion, cutting edge avionics and all carbon fibre core structure, as per Skyroot Aerospace.

Vikram-S will help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of orbital class space launch vehicles, including many sub-systems and technologies that will be tested across the pre-lift off and post-lift off phases of the launch, according to Skyroot Aerospace.

Vikram-S is among one of the first few all-composite space launch vehicles, which is made up of 3D-printed solid thrusters for its spin stability.

As per Skyroot Aerospace, with a body mass of 545 kilograms, length of 6m, and diameter of 0.375 meters, Vikram-S is the quickest and most affordable ride to space.