- Skyroot Aerospace became India's first private company to launch an indigenous rocket into orbit
- India is now the third country with private orbital launch capabilities after the US and China
- Vikram-1 rocket launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying customer payloads successfully
Space startup Skyroot Aerospace scripted history on Saturday (Jul 18) by becoming the first private company in India to deploy an indigenously developed rocket into orbit. The historic milestone made India only the third country in the world, after the United States and China, to possess private orbital launch capabilities. Calling it the 'biggest whitepill of all time,' Caleb Frisen, a Canadian national who has been living in India for the last eight years and covering tech and space news, said the next chapter of India's space journey had officially started.
Freisen, who attended the launch from the mission control centre viewing gallery at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, recalled that when he first came to India in 2017, the space industry was closed to private players while Skyroot did not exist.
"A year later, in 2018, Skyroot was founded. Private companies in India couldn't launch rockets yet, but Pawan and Bharath forged ahead regardless, optimistic that liberalisation would happen someday," said Friesen.
However, policy changes kicked in 2020 when Indian companies were allowed to compete with American, Russian, European, and Chinese startups.
"I was publishing videos about Indian companies on YouTube at this point. I remember thinking, "Making content about these spacetech developments is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Now, approximately 6 years later, Skyroot has gifted India with the biggest white pill of all time," said Friesen.
Friesen stated that no private space company in the world had made such a leap during their first attempt, highlighting the gravity of the success.
"As I write this, I have goosebumps. I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to witness this firsthand. I also feel inspired by the resilience, ingenuity, and wherewithal of the entire Skyroot team."
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Skyroot Success
The Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, carrying several customer payloads and in-orbit experiments on its maiden orbital mission, dubbed "Mission Aagaman". It successfully injected its payload into a 450 km orbit about 15 minutes later.
The mission was intended to validate the rocket's propulsion, avionics, telemetry, guidance, navigation and control systems in flight while collecting data for future commercial launches.
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.
