Students' satellite will be flying in Vikram-S rocket

Space Kidz India, an aerospace startup, will fly its 2.5 kg satellite built by students from US, Indonesia and India on India's first private sector rocket, its CEO said on Tuesday.

"We will be flying the student satellite in the Vikram-S rocket. The fee for carrying the satellite is under discussion with Skyroot Aerospace. The satellite was built by students and in some cases with their grandparents," founder-CEO Srimathy Kesan told IANS.

Designing a payload by kids along with their grandparents was the fun element that was introduced this time around. There were a couple of grandparents who had bought the kits and assembled the same, she said.

According to her, the satellite was developed in about 8-9 months and the 80 students were from Classes 6 to 12.

Kesan said there are 80 boards on the payload and about 10-15 experiments could be done.

On Tuesday, Skyroot Aerospace said it would fly its rocket Vikram-S with three payloads between November 12 and 16 from Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) rocket port in Sriharikota.

The Hyderabad-based rocket startup has named the mission "Prarambh" ("the beginning"), signifying a new era for the private space sector.

With this maiden mission, Skyroot Aerospace is set to become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space, heralding a new era for the space sector which was recently opened up to facilitate private sector participation, the company said.