The launches by Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos of their launch vehicles Vikram-1 and Agnibaan, respectively, will also signify the start-ups’ first respective commercial missions.
The Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) released its integrated launch manifesto on February 8
Indian launch vehicle makers Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos are expected to make seven launches between 2024 and early 2025, a manifesto released by space regulator Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said on February 8. These launches include the space tech start-ups’ first respective commercial missions.
As of now, Hyderabad’s Skyroot is the only private player to launch for space. Their Vikram-S vehicle, launched in 2022, acted as a tech demonstrator. Since then, the startup has been working on their orbital Vikram-1 launch vehicle.
On the other hand, Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos is expected to launch their Agnibaan-Sorted launch vehicle soon. This, like Skyroot’s Vikram-S, will be a sub-orbital mission and will act as a tech demonstrator/validator for the startup.
The launch manifesto released by IN-SPACe says that Agnibaan-Sorted will launch in the last quarter of FY 2023-24. A specific timeframe was missing.
Commercial Debuts
In the first quarter of FY 2024-25 , Skyroot is slated to launch Vikram-1, signifying their first commercial mission. In fact, according to IN-SPACe’s manifesto, the startup is expected to launch Vikram-1 in the next three following quarters.
Quarter 3 of FY 2024-25 will also see Agnikul Cosmos’ first foray into commercial missions, with the startup slated to launch their Agnibaan launch vehicle. The Chennai-based rocket maker is also expected to launch in Q4 of FY 2024-25, the manifesto shows.
The manifesto said, “The key NGE (non-governmental entity) highlights for this period include planned Sub-Orbital and Orbital launches by Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace. Few of the NGEs facilitated for their satellite launch requirements include Digantara Research & Technology, Dhruvaspace, Space Kidz India and academic institutes…”
In total, about 30 launches are planned for 2023-2024 (Q4) and 2024-2025 from Sriharikota, the manifesto said. Apart from that, seven test launches of India’s human flight mission Gaganyaan are also scheduled during the period, it said.
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