Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace yesterday launched the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket, a key test of national efforts to compete for a bigger share of the global commercial launch market.
The Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, leaving behind a plume of fire and smoke, carrying several customer payloads and in-orbit experiments on its maiden orbital mission, dubbed ‘Mission Aagaman’.
It successfully injected its payload into a 450km 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 said.
“Mission Aagaman is a grand success,” the company said in a statement.
“This is a test flight. We will be doing a few of these before we move into routine commercial flights,” it added.
Founded in 2018, Skyroot is among a new generation of Indian space startups that have attracted backing from global investors following the sector’s liberalisation.
It became the first space-sector company in the country to hit a $1-billion valuation earlier in the year.
The Indian mission comes amid intensifying competition in the global small satellite launch market, where startups are seeking to challenge incumbents led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Governments across Europe and Asia have also stepped up support for domestic launch companies to secure independent access to space as commercial and defence demand accelerates.
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