India’s Skyroot Launches Vikram-1 in Historic First Private Orbital Rocket Mission

By NewsPostPK | July 18, 2026

NEW DELHI: Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched Vikram-1, the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket, marking a major milestone for India’s commercial space sector. The rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota under the mission named “Aagaman.”

Standing about 22 metres tall, Vikram-1 uses a combination of solid-fuel stages and a 3D-printed liquid engine. Around 15 minutes after liftoff, it successfully deployed multiple customer and technology demonstration payloads into a 450-kilometre low-Earth orbit.

The launch makes India one of the few countries where a private company has independently achieved orbital launch capability. Founded in 2018, Hyderabad-based Skyroot has emerged as a key player in India’s expanding private space industry following reforms that opened the sector to private investment in 2020.

The successful mission is expected to strengthen India’s ambitions to expand its share of the global space economy and boost commercial satellite launch services. Skyroot plans additional test flights before beginning regular commercial operations.