- Skyroot Aerospace launched Vikram-1, India's first private orbital rocket mission Aagaman
- The four-stage rocket lifted off from Sriharikota with a flight duration of about 16 minutes
- India joins the US and China as countries with private firms capable of orbital launches
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace successfully placed its Vikram-1 rocket into orbit on Saturday, in a mission named 'Aagaman', becoming the first Indian private company to achieve an orbital launch. The milestone makes India the third country in the world, after China and the US, to have a private company capable of orbital launches.
The Mission
The four-stage rocket lifted off from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, with the flight lasting roughly 16 minutes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his wishes to the startup, calling it a "historic new frontier" for India's space programme, and noted the vehicle was built to offer rapid, on-demand launch capability.
Who Else Has Done This
Skyroot's feat places it alongside a very small group of companies globally.
In the United States, SpaceX was the first private firm to reach orbit, with its Falcon 1 rocket in 2008, before going on to dominate the global commercial launch market with the Falcon 9 and, more recently, Starship.
ALSO READ: Vikram-1 Launch Today: PM Modi Backs Skyroot's Mission, Calls It A Historic Milestone
China followed roughly a decade later. Beijing-based i-Space became the first Chinese private company to complete a successful orbital launch in July 2019, sending two satellites into orbit aboard its SQX-1 Y1 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Since then, Chinese firms such as LandSpace have gone further, with LandSpace becoming the first company anywhere to put a methane-powered rocket into orbit in 2023, as Beijing has nurtured a crowded field of private launch startups to rival SpaceX.
Why It Matters For India
Until now, orbital launches from Indian soil were the sole preserve of ISRO.
Skyroot's success formally ends that monopoly, opening the door for privately built rockets to compete for satellite launch contracts.
ALSO READ: Watch: Skyroot's Vikram-1 Becomes India's First Privately Developed Rocket To Lift Off
Skyroot has pitched Vikram-1 as a dedicated, on-demand launch service for small satellites, comparing it to a cab service that lets customers choose their orbit and schedule, unlike rideshare-style missions where smaller payloads must wait for a primary customer's launch window.
The company is also developing two larger vehicles, Vikram-II and Vikram-III, aimed at heavier payloads as it looks to scale up commercial operations.
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