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Opening Space for all
Skyroot Aerospace: The Startup That Took India to Orbit
Sometimes, the biggest dreams begin when you decide to leave the safest path behind.
In 2018, Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka were already living the dream that many engineers in India would consider almost perfect.
They were rocket scientists at ISRO.
They had worked close to one of the world's most respected space programmes. They could have continued on a secure career path, working on missions that reached the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Instead, they chose something far more uncertain.
They decided to build rockets of their own.
That decision gave birth to Skyroot Aerospace in Hyderabad.
The idea behind Skyroot was simple but ambitious: make access to space more accessible and flexible.
At the time, India's space industry was still largely led by the government. Private companies had very limited room to build and launch their own rockets.
India's space-sector reforms would come in 2020, opening the door for private participation. Skyroot had already started its journey two years earlier.
For Chandana and Daka, this meant building something that had almost no established playbook in India.
They had to create the technology, assemble a team, develop manufacturing capabilities and, eventually, prove that a private Indian company could actually reach space.
Skyroot began experimenting with technologies that could make rockets lighter, faster to manufacture and more economical.
The company developed carbon-composite rocket structures and 3D-printed liquid engines, while working on its Vikram series of launch vehicles. Its early milestones included the static-fire test of Raman-1 and the testing of Dhawan-1, described by Skyroot as India's first privately built cryogenic engine.
But technology alone was not enough.
A rocket company needs an entire ecosystem around it—testing facilities, regulatory approvals, specialised manufacturing and access to launch infrastructure.
This is where India's changing space policy became important.
ISRO and IN-SPACe eventually provided technical support and access to facilities, allowing companies like Skyroot to work with infrastructure that would otherwise have been extremely difficult for a young startup to access.
Then came the moment that changed the story.
On 18 November 2022, Skyroot's Vikram-S lifted off from Sriharikota.
It was not an orbital rocket. It was a suborbital demonstrator.
But its importance went far beyond its size.
Vikram-S became the first privately developed rocket launched from Indian soil. It reached approximately 89.5 km in altitude in 155 seconds, carrying three payloads.
The mission was appropriately named Prarambh — “The Beginning.”
And it really was.
For the first time, India had seen a private company build and launch its own rocket.
Skyroot's ambition did not stop with Vikram-S.
The company began preparing Vikram-I, a four-stage orbital launch vehicle designed to carry small satellites into Low Earth Orbit.
The journey involved years of engineering, testing and collaboration.
In August 2025, the first stage's massive KALAM 1200 solid motor successfully completed a static test at Sriharikota. The motor was 11 metres long and carried about 30 tonnes of propellant.
Then came the moment Skyroot had been working towards.
At 12:05:30 PM, Vikram-I lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
For the first time, a private Indian company had successfully launched an orbital rocket from Indian soil.
Vikram-I carried multiple payloads, including SCOPE and Grahaa, which were placed into Low Earth Orbit. ISRO described the mission as the first successful orbital launch by a private Indian company from India.
The journey that began with two former ISRO scientists taking a risk had reached orbit.
Skyroot's story is not only about engines, carbon fibre or launch vehicles.
It is about what happens when people decide that a field once considered too difficult for startups can become their playground.
Today, Skyroot talks about “Opening Space for All”—a vision built around making satellite launches more accessible and flexible.
The company is now developing larger vehicles such as Vikram-II, while expanding its launch capabilities and commercial ambitions.
You don't always need an established path before you begin.
Sometimes, you start walking—and the path gets built behind you.
Skyroot began when two rocket scientists stepped away from a secure career and chose uncertainty.
Eight years later, their rocket rose from Sriharikota and carried an Indian private company into orbit.
And perhaps that is the most inspiring part of the story:
The future does not always arrive from somewhere far away. Sometimes, someone decides to build it at home.
