Skyroot targets first private Indian launch as NASA awards Rocket Lab three Electron missions
India’s Skyroot Aerospace plans a test flight of its Vikram-1 rocket in July, while NASA selects Rocket Lab for three Electron launches in 2027 and SpaceX celebrates its 1,000th Merlin engine.
India’s first private launch attempt is slated for a test flight of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket between July 12 and August 4 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, according to the Economic Times. The mission will collect data on propulsion, stage separation, guidance, navigation and control, and overall vehicle performance. Vikram-1 uses three solid-propellant stages and a liquid-fuel fourth stage capable of delivering about half a ton to low-Earth orbit. Skyroot has raised roughly $160 million, including a $60 million round in May that valued the company at over $1 billion.
NASA has selected Rocket Lab to launch three missions on its Electron rocket in 2027. Two science payloads – the Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR) consisting of a pair of small satellites, and the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2) – will fly from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand spaceport, with the earliest launch no earlier than June 2027.
SpaceX announced the production of its 1,000th Merlin 1D engine, a milestone for the company’s reusable Falcon family. The kerosene-fueled engine powers nine Merlin 1Ds per Falcon 9 launch and 27 on a Falcon Heavy. SpaceX noted that engine reusability has contributed to reliability improvements.
The United Launch Alliance conducted the final Atlas V launch with a payload fairing, sending 29 Amazon Leo broadband satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral. It was also the last flight using the rocket’s most powerful configuration with five solid rocket boosters, as ULA prepares to transition to its Vulcan launch vehicle.
Other updates include the successful air-launched Pegasus flight that placed Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link satellite into orbit to reboost NASA’s Swift observatory, NASA’s delivery of braking engines for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Mars rover, and Blue Origin’s ongoing pad-cleanup efforts after a New Glenn explosion, praised by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.