Space Zone India Pvt Ltd, a startup that is building rockets, is all set to launch its reusable, sounding rocket, RHUMI 1, from the back of a truck and from the shore of the Bay of Bengal on Saturday morning.

Being a sounding rocket, it is completely unguided, which means it goes up to a certain height and falls. The altitude to which it will fly, which will be under a regulation of 35 km, will be decided just before the launch, the Founder and CEO of Space Zone, Dr Anand Megalingam, told media here.

(‘Sounding rockets’ have nothing to do with sound. The word “sounding” comes from ancient shipping and means taking measurements or gathering data. Sounding rockets are used to gather data at high altitudes.)

RHUMI 1 (named after Megalingam’s son), stands 3.5 meters tall and is a single-piece rocket, weighing about 80 kg. It is fuelled by a combination of waxes and uses nitrous oxide as the oxidiser (necessary for combustion), making it a ‘hybrid’ vehicle. The rocket will soar with an initial thrust of 2,500 newtons. All but its nose cone is reusable — the nose cone will get thrown off once it releases the payload, but the rest of the rocket will descend on a parachute into the sea. 

The rocket will carry three cube satellites designed to monitor and collect data on atmospheric conditions, including cosmic radiation intensity, UV radiation intensity and air quality. It will also carry 50 pico (tiny) satellites, each meant for “studying an aspect of the atmosphere, such as vibration, accelerometer readings and natural and synthetic molecular bonding of fibres, enhancing our understanding of environmental dynamics,” says a background note given by Space Zone India.

The start-up is advised by former ISRO scientist, Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, who was involved in the Indian space agency’s Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan missions.

But RHUMI 1, which will not fly out of the atmosphere, is a steppingstone in the making of another rocket, RHUMI 2, which will be able to carry payloads up to 250 kg in weight to an altitude of 250 km, providing satellite launching services. Until RHUMI 2 is developed, RHUMI 1 will be used for educating students on subjects such as aerodynamics and satellite technology. RHUMI 2 will be a two-stage rocket, the lower stage of which will be recoverable, and reusable.

The Chennai-based Martin group, founded by ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin, has supported Space Zone India by giving it ₹8 crore out of its CSR funds. The group is likely to take a stake in the startup later, it is learnt.

Megalingam did not wish to disclose the cost of developing the rockets. He said that the Coimbatore-based Akshath Aerospace (‘Grahaa Space’) will use RHUMI 2 to launch 100 satellites. Grahaa Space’s website says the company aims to “provide on-demand, near real-time geospatial videos of any given location on earth, captured and streamed through our advanced constellation of earth observation nanosatellite.”