Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace is gearing up to launch Vikram-1, India’s first private orbital rocket. The startup is hoping to become a key player in the niche launch segment. But the ultimate aim is to enable space travel for all
As he’s talking up future plans for one of India’s pioneering space startups, Pawan Kumar Chandana, the co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, employs an analogy that’s unexpectedly, and literally, grounded. “Think of SpaceX as a transcontinental train or an A380. We’re aiming to become the cab or business jet that drops you at a specific slot in a unique orbit in space with our smaller rockets,” he says.
It’s a reference intended to pinpoint where the company sees itself in the vastness, and vast potential, of space operations. The baby steps have been taken with the sub-orbital rocket, Vikram-S, which Skyroot launched successfully in Nov 2022 on its very first attempt, a feat that even Elon Musk’s SpaceX could not achieve. That distinction burnishes credentials for a company looking for a foothold in the space game even as Chandana’s clear that it’s not aiming at competition with the space giants.
It’s a reference intended to pinpoint where the company sees itself in the vastness, and vast potential, of space operations. The baby steps have been taken with the sub-orbital rocket, Vikram-S, which Skyroot launched successfully in Nov 2022 on its very first attempt, a feat that even Elon Musk’s SpaceX could not achieve. That distinction burnishes credentials for a company looking for a foothold in the space game even as Chandana’s clear that it’s not aiming at competition with the space giants.