JAKARTA - Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully completed its first orbital flight on Saturday, July 18 local time.
This makes India the third country in the world whose private company has successfully launched its rocket into orbit.
The Vikram-1 rocket lifted off at 12.05 p.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island off the Bay of Bengal.
The seven-storey four-stage rocket is named after the late Vikram Sarabhai, who pioneered India's space program. Designed to carry a payload of up to 350 kg into low Earth orbit, the rocket successfully released its payload about 16 minutes later.
"Hello space, we have arrived. The Vikram-1 Test Flight has completed its mission. India's first private sector launch has been successfully completed," Skyroot said on X, quoted from AN.
Saturday's orbital flight, dubbed "Mission Aagaman," which means arrival, is the first of a series of test flights before moving to commercial launches.
"This is a significant moment in India's space journey. Our growing private sector participation is opening new horizons and accelerating innovation," Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi proudly welcomed the successful launch on social media.
According to Lieutenant General AK Bhatt (retired), director general of the Indian Space Association, Skyroot's first private orbital flight has shown that "India's domestic industry is ready to handle space missions from start to finish."
"India's private space sector is no longer a high-risk bet; it is a highly profitable, globally competitive asset class, and is able to overcome the global small satellite launch barriers," Bhatt continued.
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