UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Vikram-1: Charting India’s Cosmic Future
Q1. Skyroot Aerospace, the developer of Vikram-1, was established in 2018 by how many co-founders?
- A. Two
- B. Three
- C. Four
- D. Five
Q2. The 'Vikram' series of launch vehicles developed by Skyroot Aerospace is named in honour of which one of the following personalities?
- A. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, regarded as the father of the Indian space programme
- B. Vikram Batra, a decorated army officer
- C. Vikram Seth, a literary figure
- D. Vikram Sarabhai's mentor, C. V. Raman
Q3. Which one of the following was India's first privately developed rocket to be launched from Indian soil?
- A. Vikram-S
- B. Vikram-1
- C. Agnibaan SOrTeD
- D. Agnibaan
Q4. Consider the following payloads claimed to have been carried by Vikram-S on its sub-orbital Mission Prarambh flight (18 November 2022):
1. BAZOOMQ (Armenia)
2. Space Kidz India payload
3. SCOPE satellite of Skyroot Aerospace
4. N-Space Tech (India) payload
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified as a Vikram-S (Mission Prarambh) payload?
- BAZOOMQ (Armenia)
- Space Kidz India payload
- SCOPE satellite of Skyroot Aerospace
- N-Space Tech (India) payload
- A. 1 only
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 3 only
- D. 4 only
Q5. The Indian Space Policy 2023, which opened the entire space value chain to non-government entities, was approved by which one of the following?
- A. The Union Cabinet
- B. The Parliament of India through a statute
- C. The governing board of IN-SPACe
- D. The Space Commission alone
Q6. With reference to the delineation of roles under the Indian Space Policy 2023, consider the following statements:
1. ISRO is to focus on research and development of advanced space technologies while transitioning away from routine operational and manufacturing activities.
2. NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is the commercial public-sector undertaking tasked with commercialising space technologies on a demand-driven basis.
3. IN-SPACe is the commercial arm of the Department of Space, while NSIL functions as the authorising and supervising regulator for private players.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- ISRO is to focus on research and development of advanced space technologies while transitioning away from routine operational and manufacturing activities.
- NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is the commercial public-sector undertaking tasked with commercialising space technologies on a demand-driven basis.
- IN-SPACe is the commercial arm of the Department of Space, while NSIL functions as the authorising and supervising regulator for private players.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. As highlighted around the Vikram-1 launch, approximately how many organisations had registered with IN-SPACe by June 2026?
- A. Over 450
- B. Over 1,500
- C. Over 4,500
- D. Over 12,000
Q8. With reference to the payloads carried by Vikram-1 on its maiden orbital flight (July 2026), consider the following:
1. SCOPE — Skyroot Aerospace's own performance-assessment satellite.
2. SOLARAS S3 — a satellite of Grahaa Space.
3. Embrace — an orbital-debris-capture robotic arm of Cosmoserve Space.
4. A Space Kidz India student experiment.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as Vikram-1 payloads?
- SCOPE — Skyroot Aerospace's own performance-assessment satellite.
- SOLARAS S3 — a satellite of Grahaa Space.
- Embrace — an orbital-debris-capture robotic arm of Cosmoserve Space.
- A Space Kidz India student experiment.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q9. Vikram-1's payloads were injected into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at about 450 km. Which one of the following best describes Low Earth Orbit?
- A. An orbit around the Earth generally at an altitude below about 2,000 km
- B. A geostationary orbit fixed at about 35,786 km over the equator
- C. A halo orbit about the Sun–Earth L1 Lagrange point
- D. A highly elliptical Molniya-type orbit optimised for high-latitude coverage
Q10. With reference to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), consider the following:
1. It is located on an island in Andhra Pradesh.
2. It is bounded by the Pulicat Lake and the Bay of Bengal.
3. It was originally called Sriharikota Range (SHAR) and was renamed after Satish Dhawan in 2002.
4. It became operational in 1962 with the launch of the satellite Aryabhata.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It is located on an island in Andhra Pradesh.
- It is bounded by the Pulicat Lake and the Bay of Bengal.
- It was originally called Sriharikota Range (SHAR) and was renamed after Satish Dhawan in 2002.
- It became operational in 1962 with the launch of the satellite Aryabhata.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3
- C. 3 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q11. According to figures cited around the Vikram-1 launch, India's space startups grew from a single startup in 2014 to approximately how many by 2026?
- A. Over 40
- B. Over 150
- C. Over 400
- D. Over 2,000