For the first time a 'sounding' rocket designed by students of the Indian Space Research Organisation-sponsored Indian Institute of Space Technology has been launched successfully in Thiruvananthapuram.

The rocket, launched at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre on Friday, is named "Vyom", which means "sky" in Sanskrit.

It was designed by the B.Tech students of IIST under the guidance and infrastructure support of experts from VSSC, an IIST release said on Saturday.

In all 26 students, including 10 alumni of 2007 batch, actively contributed to its development and the design and sub-systems were reviewed by a steering committee of experts from IIST and VSSC.

Vyom has an overall length of 2.3 meters and a maximum outer diameter of 207 mm and a lift of mass of 88 kg.   It used solid motor HTPB as propellant with a new grain

configuration conceived by the students. The payload was a triaxis acceleromotor designed under the Advanced Technology Vehicle and Sounding Rocket Project of VSSC.