Skyroot Launches India’s First Privately Built Orbital Rocket

India marked a major milestone in its commercial space journey on Saturday as Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched Vikram-1, the country's first privately built orbital rocket, signalling the growing role of private companies in India's expanding space sector.

The Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, with Skyroot announcing the achievement in a post on X, saying, "Hello space, we have arrived!"

Designed to carry small satellites into low-Earth orbit, Vikram-1 stands about as tall as a seven-storey building and can transport payloads of up to 350 kilograms.

Historic Milestone:

The launch marks the first orbital mission by an Indian private space company since the country opened its space sector to private participation in 2020.

Pawan Goenka, Chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), described the mission as exceeding expectations for the country's first private orbital launch.

"It went way beyond expectation for the very first orbital launch ever undertaken by an Indian private company," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team, calling the launch "a defining moment in India's space journey."

"The growing participation of our private sector is opening new frontiers and accelerating innovation," Modi said.

Space Ambitions:

Adding a symbolic touch to the mission, Vikram-1 is carrying a miniature 18-karat gold rocket featuring sculptures of Indian scientific pioneers Vikram Sarabhai, C.V. Raman, and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

India's space ambitions have accelerated in recent years on the back of decades of investment by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the entry of private startups.

The country's space economy, currently valued at around $8.4 billion, has expanded rapidly since the sector was liberalised and now includes more than 400 space startups.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar described the launch as another milestone for India's growing space ambitions.

"India's space ambitions soar to new heights!" he said.

India has emerged as a major player in global space exploration, becoming the fourth country to successfully land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon with the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August 2023.

Former ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said the success reflected the benefits of opening the sector to private participation.

He noted that launch vehicle technology remains one of the most complex aspects of space engineering and said Skyroot's achievement would inspire more innovation across India's private space ecosystem.