India’s Skyroot launches first privately developed orbital rocket

Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace on July 18 launched the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket, marking a major milestone in India’s efforts to expand its role in the global commercial space-launch market.

The Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 06:35 GMT, carrying several customer payloads and in-orbit experiments on its maiden orbital mission, dubbed “Mission Aagaman," Reuters reports. 

The rocket successfully placed its payloads into a 450-kilometre orbit around 15 minutes after launch, making India the third country to achieve orbital launch capability through private enterprise.

The launch was initially scheduled for 0600 GMT but was temporarily put on hold before being rescheduled.

Skyroot said the mission was designed to test the rocket’s propulsion, avionics, telemetry, guidance, navigation and control systems in flight, while collecting data for future commercial missions.

“Mission Aagaman is a grand success,” the company said in a statement. “This is a test flight. We will be doing a few of these before we move into routine commercial flights,” it added.

Founded in 2018, Skyroot is part of a new generation of Indian space startups that have attracted investment from global investors following the liberalisation of the country’s space sector. The company became the first Indian space-sector firm to reach a valuation of $1 billion earlier this year.

The mission comes amid growing competition in the global small-satellite launch market, where startups are challenging established companies led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Governments in Europe and Asia have also increased support for domestic launch providers as demand for independent access to space grows for both commercial and defence purposes.

The 22-metre Vikram-1 is designed to carry payloads of up to 350 kilograms into low-Earth orbit. The rocket uses three solid-fuel stages and a liquid-fuel orbital adjustment module powered by a 3D-printed engine — technologies Skyroot says are being flown for the first time in India.

The rocket carried several experimental and customer payloads from Indian and international organisations, including technology-demonstration satellites and in-orbit experiments.

The launch followed Skyroot’s Vikram-S mission in 2022, which became the first privately developed rocket to reach space from Indian soil on a suborbital flight.

India opened its space sector to private investment in 2020, allowing startups to develop rockets, satellites and launch services — activities that had been dominated for decades by the government-run Indian Space Research Organisation.

The government aims to increase India’s share of the global space economy to $44 billion by 2033, from around $8 billion currently, as it seeks to strengthen the country’s position in a market dominated by companies in the United States, Europe and China.

By Sabina Mammadli