Skyroot Aerospace on Thursday announced the opening of the launch window for the maiden test flight of its Vikram-1 launch vehicle — India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket. Test Flight-1 is targeted for no earlier than July 12, subject to the completion of assembly and testing operations at the launch site at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SDSC-SHAR), 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, co-founder and chief executive officer of Skyroot Aerospace.

“It will help us validate our designs and inform subsequent vehicle development as we build a reliable, high-cadence commercial launch programme. The moment Vikram-1 lifts off, India’s private space industry will cross a threshold it has never crossed before,” he added. 

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. Joining the test flight is a mix of domestic and international customers.