It didn't collide, they briefly fired stage-4 booster to put some distance between the two after separation. Then, they powered down the S4 and let it coast for while. That's the gap in the telemetry.
Indian Space Industry : Updates & Discussions
- Thread starter Ashwin
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Spectrum isn't like patents that if you ignore you may be subjected to sanctions/isolation. It's a global shared resource and if you F around, let's just say countries have gone to war over lesser things -- spectrum coordination is serious business.
Couldn't have put it better.
And case in point: Huge congratulations to Skyroot and India on the major achievement today.
Just surprised Jitendra didn't show up on the podium at the end to take credit.
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Unless you continue to count Rocket Lab as a New Zealand company (which may not be factual at least anymore), Skyroot Aerospace is the FIRST non-American/non-Chinese private company to have made it to orbit. Several others (European, Australian) have tried, but none outside the US/China have succeeded so far.
Orbital Sciences SpaceX Rocket Lab
i-Space Galactic Energy Virgin Orbit Astra Firefly Aerospace Space Pioneer LandSpace Orienspace Blue Origin
Skyroot Aerospace
Rocket Lab's first successful test was from New Zealand but it was officially a US company by then.
Unless you continue to count Rocket Lab as a New Zealand company (which may not be factual at least anymore), Skyroot Aerospace is the FIRST non-American/non-Chinese private company to have made it to orbit. Several others (European, Australian) have tried, but none outside the US/China have succeeded so far.
Brazilian civil aviation industry started after ours and yet they're much ahead of us with the kinda stuff Embraer builds and we buy from them. Gotta humble down.
Btw, posting here for the record as for some reason, the Gross Lift-off Mass (GLoM) figure of Vikram-1 is not mentioned in most brochures/press kits:
Despite 35 minute delay Vikram-1 keeps date with Indian space history with Mission Aagaman success
SRIHARIKOTA: After some anxious moments when the automatic launch sequence of Vikram-1 was halted midway at just five minutes before lift-off, Skyroot Aerospace finally created history after it successfully placed India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket into space.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
"...The seven-storey tall Vikram-1 rocket, with a lift-off weight of 45,000 kg, blasted off at 12.05 pm..."
I've heard that same figure being stated by Skyroot's own media guys during the launch stream so can confirm the 45 tons figure as accurate. It's comparable to the old ISRO ASLV's 41 tons. But Vikram-1 can carry more than twice as much payload (350kg vs 150kg) to LEO. Well, that's what ~40 years of advancements in solid propulsion gets you I guess.
That said, here's some background on the two co-founders of Skyroot, Pawan Kumar Chandana & Naga Bharath Daka:
Meet the Rocket Boys behind Mission Aagaman
Hyderabad: When Vikram-1 thundered into orbit from ISRO’s First Launch Pad at Sriharikota on Saturday under Mission Aagaman, it carried more than satellites and technology payloads. It marked the arrival of India’s private launch industry on the global stage and crowned a journey that began with...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The page has copy-protection so I'm summarizing it:
>> Pawan worked on the LVM3's S200 solid booster and was later the Deputy Project Manager of ISRO's SSLV program.
>> Bharath worked on hardware & firmware for ISRO's avionics systems at VSSC, and later also worked in IC/FPGA-maker Xilinx (which was later acquired by AMD).
Solid credentials between the two.
P.S.
Skyroot is aiming for at least one more launch this year. Unclear if the 2nd launch will be with the Vikram-1U variant with strap-on boosters (~550kg to LEO), but it does seem to be the case.
They want Vikram-2 (with the Dhawan-1 cryogenic engine powering the upper kickstage) to fly next near, that will have a 900kg-1 ton capacity to LEO and additionally will have multi-orbit placement capability.
