India joins ranks of US and China with historic first private satellite launch

India made history on Saturday when a privately built rocket called Vikram-1 blasted off and placed six payloads into orbit around Earth. The rocket was built by Skyroot Aerospace, a company based in the city of Hyderabad. This makes India only the third country in the world — after the United States and China — to have a private company successfully launch a rocket into orbit. The launch happened at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota, an island off India's south-eastern coast.

The mission was called Mission Aagaman, a word that means 'arrival' in Sanskrit. About 15 minutes after liftoff, Vikram-1 placed its six payloads into low Earth orbit, about 450 kilometres above the ground. The payloads included satellites, scientific tools, and other equipment. IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka said the flight went far beyond what anyone expected, noting the rocket completed all its tasks in its very first launch.

For many years, only India's government space agency — the Indian Space Research Organisation, or ISRO — was allowed to launch rockets into space. Private companies could only help by making parts and components. That changed in 2020, when India's government opened the space sector to private businesses and created a new body called IN-SPACe. This gave startups like Skyroot access to ISRO's launch sites, testing facilities, and expert knowledge.

India's government has ambitious plans for its space economy, aiming to grow it from about $8 billion to $44 billion by 2033. Private companies are expected to play a leading role in reaching that goal. Vikram-1 carried payloads from several Indian and international organisations. These included satellites, a robotic experiment designed to capture space debris, and equipment from a German aerospace company.

Vikram-1 also carried some special symbolic items aboard. One was a lotus-shaped artwork made from lab-grown diamonds, and another was a tiny gold rocket honouring famous Indian scientists like Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space exploration. The rocket also carried a handwritten postcard from Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the words 'Vande Mataram,' which means 'I bow to thee, Mother' from India's national song. Modi said he chose those words partly because 2026 marks the song's 150th anniversary.

Skyroot's long-term goal is to offer small satellite operators their own dedicated launches, which the company calls a 'cab service to space.' Instead of sharing a large rocket with many other customers, clients can pick exactly when and where they want to launch. Co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana compared it to 'booking a cab rather than taking a train.' The company hopes to manufacture one Vikram-class rocket every month once commercial operations begin.

After the launch, Prime Minister Modi called Skyroot's leaders to congratulate them and learned that the average age of workers at the company is just 28 years old. 'Your team has proved my faith in the youth of India right. Many doubted our space dreams, but this team has shown that if trusted, Indian youth can do wonders,' he said. Mission Aagaman is the first of three planned test missions before Vikram-1 enters full commercial service. Data collected during this launch will be used to improve the rocket's systems ahead of regular missions.