India's Skyroot launches first private orbital rocket, Vikram-1, carrying six payloads to 450km orbit

Liftoff and mission

India's first privately developed orbital rocket, Vikram-1, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota island at 12:05 pm local time on Saturday, after a 35-minute delay from its scheduled 11:30 am launch. The three-stage, 22-metre rocket, built by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace, reached a 450-kilometre low Earth orbit about 15 minutes later, deploying six payloads. The mission, named Aagaman (Sanskrit for "arrival"), was broadcast live on Indian television and marked the first time a private Indian company has placed satellites into orbit. The flight validated the rocket's propulsion, avionics, telemetry, guidance, navigation and control systems, according to Skyroot.

Hello space, we have arrived! Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 has completed its mission. India's first-ever private sector launch has been successfully completed.

Payloads and technology

Vikram-1 is designed to carry up to 350 kilograms to low Earth orbit. On this maiden flight, it carried six technology demonstration payloads from Indian and international organisations. These included Skyroot's own SCOPE satellite, Grahaa Space's SOLARAS mission, and Cosmoserve Space's Embrace experiment, which tested a robotic arm for capturing space debris. Two payloads came from German aerospace company DCubed. Symbolic cargo included a lab-grown diamond and a miniature 18-carat gold sculpture commemorating India's space programme. The rocket is not reusable; Skyroot says reusability is not economically viable for a vehicle of this size, but the company is developing larger reusable rockets.

India's private space push

The launch is a direct result of India's 2020 decision to open its space sector to private investment, ending the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) monopoly on launches. The government established the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to give startups access to ISRO's launch sites, testing facilities and technical expertise. Skyroot, founded in 2018, became the first Indian space startup to reach a $1 billion valuation earlier this year. IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka said the flight exceeded expectations.

The mission objective was to simply clear the tower. It went all the way up to 450km orbit, successfully completed all the tasks and [that's] something that is way beyond expected in the very first launch.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the achievement a defining moment for the country's space journey.

This is a defining moment in India's space journey. The growing participation of our private sector is opening new horizons and accelerating innovation. This achievement will inspire countless young people to dream bigger and innovate fearlessly.

Global context and ambitions

With the successful flight, India becomes the third country, after the United States and China, to have a private company achieve orbital launch capability. The milestone comes as India aims to grow its space economy from $8 billion to $44 billion by 2033. China recently demonstrated rocket-stage recovery for reuse, while European firms like Isar Aerospace are still developing orbital launch systems. India's broader space ambitions include sending an astronaut to orbit by 2027 and landing an Indian on the moon by 2040, building on its 2023 Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing and a 2014 Mars orbiter mission. The country also set a record in 2017 by launching 104 satellites on a single rocket.

What's next

Skyroot plans further test flights before beginning routine commercial missions. The company previously flew a suborbital mission, Vikram-S, in 2022. The successful Vikram-1 flight positions Skyroot to compete in the global small satellite launch market, where demand is growing for dedicated rides to orbit.