Many of us think that India hasn't any Private rocket Company but that's not true. India also has some private space companies.
We will start with the youngest company
and the oldest company in the last. Before the last company
I will inform you about an Indian Aerospace company
which will launch satellites this year.
Skyroot
let's talk about Skyroot Aerospace. It is Founded in 2018, founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka. They both have previously worked at ISRO previously
Pawan has worked at ISRO for about 6-7 years.
Not just Pawan, but a lot of people from the Skyroot leadership team
are former ISRO employees
so they have a lot of experience and bringing the ISRO heritage. So many people have worked on rockets previously.
Let's learn about the rockets, Skyroot has 3 rockets under development
the 1st rocket is the base for the other 2 rockets.
Vikram 1:
Let's learn about the 1st rocket Vikram 1, in a little detail, rockets start with the word Vikram as a tribute to Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Vikram 1 is a 3 stage rocket
it's 19m tall
it can put 225kg to SSPO
and 315 kg to 45 deg inclination at 500km altitude. 3 stages are entirely Solid rocket.
There is a small velocity trimming final stage. This is for final adjustments. This uses a liquid bipropellant engine
this is also restartable. Pawan informed that the 1st stage produces 100 tonnes of thrust
meaning around 890KN
so if you compare ISRO's High Thrust Vikas Engine(HTVE) (not the normal VIKAS engine) it's even more than that
HTVE produces around 846KN. So a lot of thrust in this little Rocket.
Yaw is controlled by the thrust vector control
so the nozzle will gimbal
and roll by RCS, so gas thrusters
will tell you about the launchpad. Skyroot claims it can be launched in 24hrs
so they will manufacture and keep rockets
so as soon as an order is received they can arrange a launch for you.
Vikram 2:
Now let's learn about Vikram 2, 410kg to 500km SSPO
and 520kg to 45deg. inclination 500km altitude. This has a special 3rd stage that works on Methalox
meaning the fuel is methane and liquid oxygen. It will use autogenous pressurization, so no separate tanks to pressurize the tanks
so a tap off will be taken from the tank, fuel heated and pressurize the tank
the development of this stage has started and progressed well
hence multi-orbit insertion capability.
Vikram 3:
Vikram 3 is basically Vikram 2
but comes with Starp on boosters and a bigger fairing
580 kg to SSPO and
720kg to 45 deg. inclination.
So these were the rockets. Now lets come to the info, not in public
Vikram 1 is scheduled to launch next year-end (Dec 2021)
might get delayed due to the current situation(COVID-19) although the youngest company still the fastest
this might be the 1st to launch from India.
Where do they launch from? They have no plans to make a launchpad
so they are planning to use a mobile launcher. You saw those big missiles launch from a big Truck (basically a launcher which you can carry anywhere).
They were even planning to launch from a foreign country, so the mobile launcher will be separately shipped
the rocket will be shipped separately without the nozzle
wherever the client wants they can assemble it and launch.
This was the initial plan but now since the government has announced new rules so they could use the ISRO facilities
so wither deploy the launcher from Sriharikota
or from Thoothukudi from where SSLV is supposed to launch.
The planning even bigger rocket running on Methalox
and can put satellites into a geostationary Orbit and be reusable
and will be announced soon. It might be Vikram 4 but I am also guessing
this is some exclusive interesting information for you. They have a very neat website.
Visit Website: skyroot.in/link/button/#27ae60
Agnikul
let's learn about the next rocket company
founded in 2017
based in Chennai
founded by Srinath Ravichandran and Moin SPM. Companies incubated in IIT Madras.
Incubator
story of this name is very interesting
word Agnikul is a derivative of the word Gurukul
that means a place where you learn to play with fire or use fire.
The name of the rocket is Agniban which means arrow of fire. Agnibaan is a 2 stage rocket with a velocity trimming 3rd stage
completely 3D printed engine
engines run on liquid oxygen and kerosene. 1st stage produces 140 KN of thrust. 2nd Stage uses of vacuum optimized version of the first engine
producing 20KN.
The first mission is to make affordable Earth orbit launches. The next mission is to have affordable lunar flyby missions
rocket. Height is around 18 meters
they were the very different implementation of this Rocket to be done in the future
planning to perform their launch using a balloon.
Srinath described this as balloon Staging, on Twitter
the first stage is the balloon and the later stages of the rocket become the next stages. Srinath said there could be two challenges here
carrying liquid oxygen to such high altitude
controlling top-off, boil-off, and orientation.
If everything goes to plan
they have plans to launch their rocket from a foreign country as well
they might own their own launch pads in those countries. Agnikul has a big focus on 3D printing
and they are always posting updates.
Visit Website: agnikul.in/link/button/#27ae60
Pixxel
We will learn about the next company but as I had told you it's an Aerospace company Pixxel. They are planning to launch 24 high-resolution Earth observation satellites
generate data from this
and more
if you own a Farm you could basically get to know from space, if your firm is doing good or doing badly.
They will launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket. This is because, If your company is based in India and you choose to go through ANTRIX who handles ISRO commercial launches then you will have to pay 18% GST for launch but if you are from a foreign Nation you will not be taxed so we might not see Indian companies launching from India for some time.
This is their microsatellites Engineering model
the camera on a rotating platform
because the camera that Pixxel is going to use is a line scan camera
it is not like a regular phone camera which is a square or rectangle
in this case, it is a line of pixels so when the camera moves it processes the image
sat will move naturally in Orbit but they have to simulate it in the lab.
Visit Website: pixxel.space/link/button/#27ae60
Bellatrix
It was founded in 2011 by Rohan M Ganapathy and Yashash Karanam. The rocket name of this company is Chetak.
Chetak:
Now let's learn about the rocket. Rocket is around 19m tall, 2 stage vehicle, 150kg to 700km SSPO. 1st stage has 4 Aeon engines
each engine produces 41KN
so a total of 164KN. 1st stage is reusable. It will perform a return to launch site recovery
but not sure exactly
These engines run on Methalox and are already developed. These are probably India's 1st methalox engines. We know ISRO is working on them
but no info in public demo. Stages will use autogenous pressurization
body and tanks made of composites of carbon fiber the same as Skyroot.
They plan to launch the rocket from Thoothukudi using a mobile launcher. ISRO too planning a mobile launcher for SSLV.
There's a sad news
the development of this rocket is going on hold. Engines are already ready. Reason being their main business is not rockets
the main business is even more interesting. There are many reasons, the main reason is money. you get a lot of attention but the profits earned as not much as you think. It may bring out of the hold.
Planning to use of vacuum optimized version of the first stage engine on the second stage
it's a little sad
it was supposed to cost 2 million dollars which is good considering 150 kg. Although it may increase if they restart development.
They had plans to make a rocket called Garuda after this rocket which will be even more powerful
so that this too is probably on hold
so what is the main business?
Their main business is in space propulsion
which means making propulsion elements for satellites and other things
very few companies across the world working on such Technologies. They are working on two kinds of propulsion, green propulsion, and electric propulsion. Electric is the more interesting one.
Industry uses very toxic fuels in the satellites
dangerous and carcinogenic fuels used currently in satellites
working on green propellant which is safer
they are working along with ISRO for this, so if you have heard the news on ISRO green propellant, it probably was this. They are working for a long time with ISRO on this.
Now let's talk about the interesting part, which they are working with ISRO too, that is electric propulsion. If you see a satellite most of the part is occupied by fuel
with electric propulsion. We could make propulsion more efficient and reduce the weight of the satellite. The disadvantage being the thrust will be less and it will take time to turn on or turn off the engine.
This thruster will use water as a fuel. ISRO once had tried electric propulsion but those were Russian engines. They are developing 2 kinds of thrusters electric
one is a Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) and Hall Effect Thruster.
MET produces higher thrust at a lower efficiency Hall Effect Thruster produces less thrust but at very high efficiency. We will see a MET launch on an ISRO satellite, so if you read media reports next year stating
ISRO is launching an electric thruster, it could be from Bellatrix.
ISRO is also developing electric thrust but it is a Hall Effect Thruster. Bellatrix is doing a very unique job very few are doing this job in this world. They will soon announce the world's smallest electric thruster for nanosatellites.
Visit Website: www.bellatrixaerospace.com/link/button/#27ae60
Indian celebrity Deepika Padukone has invested in this company. So I hope you enjoyed this article. What do you think about these private space companies, let me know in the comment section below? If you really enjoyed it then don't forget to share it with your friends.
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