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Skyroot’s Vikram-1 takes off, thrusting Indian private sector into space market orbit
- IBJ Bureau
- Jul 19, 2026
Mission Aagaman marks arrival of private sector in space
Skyroot Aerospace has launched the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket.
This marks national efforts to compete for a bigger share of the global commercial satellite launch market.
The space start-up’s Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Saturday, leaving behind a plume of fire and smoke.
It carried several customer payloads and in-orbit experiments on its maiden orbital mission, dubbed Mission Aagaman.
The launch successfully injected its payload into a 450-km orbit about 15 minutes later, making India the third country to achieve orbital launch capability through private enterprise.
The mission is intended to validate the rocket’s propulsion, avionics, telemetry, guidance, navigation and control systems in flight while collecting data for future commercial launches, Skyroot has said.
“Mission Aagaman is a grand success,” the company has said in a statement, adding: “This is a test flight. We will be doing a few of these before we move into routine commercial flights.”
Founded in 2018, Skyroot is among a new generation of Indian space start-ups that have attracted backing from global investors following the sector’s liberalisation.
At the heart of this milestone are two former ISRO scientists, Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka.
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