Skyroot’s Vikram-1, India’s First Private Orbital Rocket, Flagged Off by Telangana CM for Sriharikota
Hyderabad. Vikram-1, India’s first privately built orbital rocket by Skyroot Aerospace, was flagged off on April 26 by Mr. A. Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister of Telangana, from the company’s Max-Q campus in Hyderabad. Mr. D. Sridhar Babu, Hon’ble Minister for IT, Electronics & Communications, Industries & Commerce and Legislative Affairs of Telangana, was also present at the event. The ceremony marked the rocket’s formal departure to the launch site at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
As part of the event, the Chief Minister ceremonially flagged off the rocket’s space-ready payload fairing, the structure that protects the satellites inside the rocket during flight.
Addressing Skyroot employees, Chief Minister of Telangana, Mr. A. Revanth Reddy said the ocassion marks a key milestone in Telangana’s pursuit of becoming a global leader in Aerospace sector.
He explained that the government is focusing on skilling youth for the aerospace sector through partnerships with global universities and industry leaders. With strong policies, infrastructure, talent, and a vibrant ecosystem, our government is committed to supporting companies like Skyroot, he added.
The flag-off of the flight hardware marks the completion of the pre-flight testing program at Skyroot’s facilities. The rocket’s propulsion stages have already been secured at the spaceport in Sriharikota.
Speaking at the event, Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace said, “We are honoured to have the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana Mr. A Revanth Reddy flag-off our Vikram-1 rocket to the spaceport. The launch of this orbital rocket will mark a major milestone for India’s emerging private space-tech industry. With Vikram-1, we aim to open up space by enabling on-demand satellite launches for a fast-growing global market.”
With the Vikram-1 launch, Skyroot is set to make India’s first private orbital launch attempt, marking its entry into a market currently dominated by a handful of companies globally.
Emphasising how this will change the space ecosystem, Naga Bharath Daka, Co-founder and COO, Skyroot Aerospace said, “We completed the most critical testing of Vikram-1 and excited to begin integration and launch campaign activities next week at the spaceport towards this historic launch.”
Today, we have taken a step towards removing this barrier and moving closer to orbit.”
The launch is expected in the coming months, following the completion of integration operations at Sriharikota.
Vikram-1 is a multistage orbital launch vehicle designed to deploy small satellites of up to 350 kg to low Earth orbit. Standing seven storeys tall, it is built with an all-carbon composite structure and powered by in-house developed propulsion systems, including 3D-printed engines and high-thrust solid fuel rocket boosters.
The upcoming flight is the first of several planned Vikram-1 missions, which enables Skyroot to progressively advance toward regular commercial launch operations for satellite operators worldwide.
The launch will be conducted under the authorisation of IN-SPACe and with the technical oversight of ISRO.
