India's Skyroot successfully launches Vikram-1 rocket to orbit

Updated - July 18, 2026 07:16 pm IST By Vasudevan Mukunth

India achieved its first private orbital rocket launch at 12:05 pm on July 18. Until now, all orbital rockets launched as part of India's space programme had been state-funded and led by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace changed that by launching its small-satellite launch vehicle, Vikram-1, to a low-Earth orbit. The mission has been named "Aagaman," Hindi for "arrival."

Since 2020, the Indian government has opened the domestic space sector to private companies by creating institutions such as IN-SPACe and allowing private firms to build launch vehicles and use ISRO infrastructure. Worldwide, only a small number of private companies have successfully developed orbital launch vehicles, including SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace, and a handful of Chinese firms. A similarly short list of others—including ABL Space Systems and Isar Aerospace—are still searching for success.

Significant Feat

A successful first flight is a significant achievement. Many rockets, including the storied Falcon 9, have failed their maiden flights. However, this feat also highlights the full context in which Skyroot now operates. As a commercial entity, a single launch—crucial though it is—will not catapult the company to success. The global small-satellite launch market is evolving, and considerable challenges remain, including domestic demand and market uncertainties.

Former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka founded Skyroot Aerospace in 2018. The company achieved its first milestone in 2022 when it successfully launched Vikram-S, the first privately developed Indian rocket on a suborbital flight.

Vikram-1: Technical Overview

Vikram-1 is a four-stage rocket:

• The first three stages use solid fuel.
• The fourth stage uses liquid fuel.

Skyroot has stated that once its manufacturing is streamlined, it will be able to produce one Vikram-1 rocket per month.

Mission Aagaman was a developmental flight of Vikram-1. This means the company tested the rocket by putting it through its paces, particularly to check parameters that cannot be fully understood unless the rocket is flying. According to the company, Mission Aagaman was designed to validate:

• Stage separation
• Propulsion
• Guidance and navigation
• Structural performance
• Avionics
• Fairing deployment
• Upper-stage separation
• Orbital insertion

Inserting itself into the intended orbit would have been the mission's hardest part, as the launch vehicle had to accelerate to high speed while maintaining its guidance and propulsion.

The rocket also carried some payloads, although the primary mission focused on the rocket itself. Vikram-1 has a payload capacity of:

• 290 kg to a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit
• 480 kg to a low-inclination orbit at a similar altitude

Skyroot has said it will conduct two more developmental flights before the rocket is deemed market-ready.

Future Roadmap

"The company's roadmap includes Vikram-2, capable of carrying up to 1,000 kg to low-Earth orbit, with its maiden flight targeted for 2027, and a fully reusable launch vehicle, with both booster and upper stage engineered for recovery and reuse," the company said in a post-launch statement.

Business Challenges Ahead

Building rockets is one thing. Building a business is another—and arguably significantly more valuable. Broadly, the small-satellite launch market in which Skyroot hopes to excel has become challenging. A successful business today requires growth as well as industrial maturity and access to demand.

In the half-decade until 2021, many forecasts anticipated a boom in demand for launching satellites weighing 100–500 kg. While demand has grown since, not every entrant has been equally profitable. Launch vehicle revenues have been growing more slowly than those of satellite manufacturing, creating consolidation pressure. The forecast had assumed demand would be diffused across enterprises, but following a series of geopolitical realignments, demand today is increasingly concentrated in satellite constellations.

On the cost front, many small-satellite makers are flying their payloads on larger rockets as rideshare payloads, which has further complicated the competitive landscape for dedicated small-launch providers like Skyroot.