As Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 became the first Indian private rocket to reach orbit, Chief Executive Officer Pawan Kumar Chandana's old statement resurfaced where he laid out his vision for the company, describing it as the "Uber for space".
Comparing Skyroot To SpaceX
In an appearance on NDTV Profit's The Disruptors show, Chandana was asked about an earlier comparison he had drawn between Skyroot and SpaceX, describing SpaceX as "the bus, or the train that carries satellites" and Skyroot as "the cab". He said the analogy captures exactly what the company is trying to build.
"So that's what we aim to be, you know, we want to become the Uber for space," Chandana said. "What we do is that satellite companies book the rocket, just like you book a cab, and then go to wherever they want."
"We aim to become the 'Uber for Space'," said Pawan Kumar Chandana, CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, when he appeared on 'The Disruptors'.
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He extended the analogy further.
"Typically if you want to go to your home, you don't book a train, you have to book a cab to go specifically to your place. So there are satellites who want to go specifically to certain locations in space. And we're Uber for them, where they book the rocket, put their satellite onto the rocket, launch to space and get them dropped wherever they want."
ALSO READ: Adani Hails Skyroot's Vikram-1 Success As India's Private Space Sector Reaches Historic Milestone
The Bigger Opportunity
Chandana argued that building a working rocket unlocks a far larger opportunity than satellite launches alone.
"The only way to go to space today is a rocket," he said. "So the moment you build a rocket, you're open to all these markets — from launching satellites, to launching humans, to building factories in space, to building air data centers, everything."
He said the core challenge Skyroot is trying to solve is cost and frequency. "The fundamental thing to be sorted out is build low-cost, regular rockets which can go to space on a regular basis, and we want to convert spaceflight as easy as air flight."
ALSO READ: Skyroot Scripts History As Vikram-1 Reaches Orbit; India Joins Elite Private Space Club
The comments come after Vikram-1's successful orbital launch on Saturday, which made Skyroot the first Indian private company to achieve orbit, and placed India alongside the US and China as the only countries with private orbital launch capability.
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