India's first private rocket Vikram-1 succeeds in maiden orbital launch

In a defining milestone, Skyroot Aerospace on Saturday launched the country's first private orbital rocket and successfully placed multiple technology-demonstration payloads into the desired orbit, making India the third country with private orbital launch capabilities after the US and China.

The four-stage, seven-storey-tall Vikram-1 rocket lifted off majestically at 12.05 pm amid cloudy skies from the first launch pad of Isro's Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, leaving behind plumes of orange smoke and marking a new era in the country's space missions.

The Hyderabad-based company, which carries the slogan - "Redefining access to space. Your fast track to the orbit. On-demand launch vehicle for rapid, precise, and customizable small satellite deployments"- on its website, described Saturday's mission 'Aagaman' (arrival) as a "grand success".

 

The rocket, named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space programme, also carried payloads that had postcards, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called the mission a "defining moment" in the country'sspace journey. The postcards, loaded into specialised "payload lockers", were placed into Low Earth orbit (LEO).

It also carried two symbolic payloads -Cosmic Bloom, an "artistic lab-grown diamond" in the shape of a lotus, and a tiny gold rocket with micro-sculptures of three of India's best-known space scientists -- Vikram Sarabhai, Sir CV Raman and former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

According to the company, the engineering data collected during this test flight will be analysed to validate guidance and navigation systems and to guide future refinements for commercial satellite missions.

This historic milestone is also expected to strengthen India's position in the fast-growing global small satellite launch market, expanding the country's presence in space alongside Isro.

A "planned hold" due to apparent navigation issues forced a revised launch time of 12.05 pm, as against the originally planned 11.30 am.

After its ascent, the primary payloads -- technology demonstrators from Grahaa Space, Cosmoserve, DCubed, and Skyroot's SCOPE -- were sequentially deployed into a 450 km LEO.

The launch vehicle also successfully deployed a micro-art payload, an 18-karat gold rocket and a handwritten postcard from Modi bearing the message "Vande Mataram", along with postcards from engineers, scientists, and Indian astronauts.

"Skyroot proudly named its rockets and engines after these icons," the company said.

Prime Minister Modi hailed the successful launch, saying it proved the country's self-reliance push.

Speaking to the CEO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, Pawan Kumar Chandana and co-founder Naga Bharath Daka over the phone, Modi congratulated them and their company for the successful feat achieved on Saturday.

The Prime Minister also told them that today's "Mission Aagaman" (arrival) should proceed further. The mission "proves we can be Atmanirbhar" (self-reliant), he said.

On his part, Chandana informed the Prime Minister that the rocket was completely designed and made in India.

Referring to Modi's postcard, Chandana said, "Your card has successfully reached orbit. Vande Mataram is in orbit."  Modi pointed out that the country was celebrating 150 years of the Vande Mataram, adding that the national song inspired many to live and die for the country.

"The growing participation of our private sector is opening new frontiers and accelerating innovation. This achievement will encourage countless youngsters to dream bigger and innovate fearlessly," Modi said on X.

Chandana said, "We are very proud that the government has enabled us and opened up the sector to private players, and now we stand as India's first private company which has launched a rocket to orbit and also created a global milestone. All from India with a fully, fully Indian team, 100 per cent built in India."  Daka said India was the third country, after the US and China, with private sector launch capability.

Isro chief V Narayanan hailed Modi for opening up the space sector for the startup ecosystem of the country.

"In 2020, the space sector reform was announced. Today, within six years, a startup company has successfully placed a satellite in the first attempt in the orbit. It is really a great, satisfying moment," he said.

He also lauded the young team of Skyroot Aerospace, saying "it was said the average age is 28 years."  "When the space sector reform was announced by the Prime Minister, we had only one startup company. Today, we have got 400-plus startup companies working in multiple areas. But you know, the launch vehicle development is a very tricky game, and I am really extremely happy that in the first attempt we have succeeded," he added.

With its Saturday mission, Skyroot successfully demonstrated its orbital launch capability, moving beyond the suborbital flight achieved by its Vikram-S mission in 2022.

The successful flight validated the performance of the rocket's all-carbon composite structure and 3D-printed engines in a real flight environment, features claimed by the company as "first".

Both founders, Chandana and Daka, are former Isro scientists and were present at the space agency's Mission Control Centre (MCC), along with its chief, Narayanan. Former Isro chiefs, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh were among those who witnessed the launch from the MCC.

Several chief ministers and leaders across political spectrum congratulated the private company on its achievement.

The payloads that piggybacked on Vikram-1 include Cosmoserve Space's Embrace (mission name), an in-orbit demonstration of robotic arms capable of removing space debris, and Solaras by Grahaa Space, which is a compact satellite mission developed to demonstrate new capabilities in LEO. German test payload uD3PP and mD3RN by Dcubed also reached space on Saturday.

According to the company, the Scope satellite by Skyroot Aerospace is an in-house experimental payload developed to test space technologies in future missions.