India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on dramatic debut launch
摘要
印度私营航天企业天空之根研制的维克拉姆-1火箭于4月12日成功首飞，将卫星送入约450公里轨道。这是印度首枚完全商业化的卫星运载火箭，从孟加拉湾的斯里哈里科塔岛发射升空。火箭高约22米，可将350公斤载荷送入近地轨道，规模略大于火箭实验室的电子号火箭。发射因技术问题延迟半小时后顺利升空。
Indian space officials celebrated the debut flight of Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket, India's first fully commercial satellite launcher, as a "grand success" Saturday after an on-target climb into a 280-mile-high orbit following liftoff from an island spaceport in the Bay of Bengal.
The Vikram-1 lifted off from India's primary spaceport on Sriharikota Island at 1:35 am EDT (06:35 UTC) Saturday, around midday at the launch base along India's southeast coast. The launch was delayed more than a half-hour to resolve a last-minute technical problem. The countdown resumed, culminating in the command to ignite Vikram-1's solid-fueled first stage booster to propel the rocket off the launch pad.
Vikram-1 is modest in size compared to India's larger workhorse rockets. Skyroot's rocket stands about 72 feet (22 meters) tall, with the capability to place payloads of up to 770 pounds (350 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit. This makes Vikram-1 somewhat larger than the Electron launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab, the world's most successful dedicated small satellite launcher.
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