Hyderabad-based spacetech start-up Skyroot Aerospace is aiming big with India’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle

Elon Musk skipped India where he was supposed to meet founders of spacetech start-ups. That wasn’t a problem. Skyroot Aerospace, a prominent name in the sector, continues to make headway on Musk’s vision of making spaceflight as reliable and regular as air travel. Started by Pawan Chandana and Bharath Daka in 2018, the Hyderabad-based firm is currently involved in the lift-off of the Vikram-1 rocket, India’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle.

A huge milestone for India’s space technology, Vikram-1 stands tall at seven storeys, entirely constructed with advanced light-weight carbon composites and hosts 3D-printed liquid propulsion engines.

“It is designed to carry payloads weighing up to 300 kg, placing satellites into low earth orbit,” says Chandana, who studied Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. He met co-founder Daka, who studied Electronics at IIT Madras, while working at ISRO in 2012. The two Vizag boys immediately connected, united by their dream of building a world-class space company. Today, their start-up is ushering in a new transformative era in space.

Approximately 300 dynamic engineers constitute the team directly, and are indirectly involved in the development of the Vikram-1 rocket. On launch, it will not only mark a significant achievement for the Indian private space sector, but also contribute to the growing capabilities of commercial satellite deployment from India. This endeavour signifies India’s ambitions to expand its presence in the global space industry, offering competitive launch services that cater to a variety of small satellite missions.

The route to this moment, says Daka, had many hurdles. Not the least, was developing entirely new technologies (all-composite rocket structure and 3D-printed liquid engines), finding the right talent, securing funding and rigorously testing for safety and reliability.

The start-up's first launch of Vikram-S rocket in November 2022 marked a pivotal moment for Indian space. It was the first private space launch in the country that propelled India to the elite group of few countries where a private company was able to launch a rocket into space. It was the biggest milestone in the private space sector of India. Chandana says, “The launch was the most intense experience of my life, with a mix of excitement and tension as years of effort had to be proven in a few seconds.”

Daka and Chandana’s space career began alongside the nascent development of India’s private space sector. “Launching a space company during the period of policy flux was a bold move, but we believed in the potential of Indian space,” recalls Daka. His pioneering spirit was met with many challenges. The firm faced difficulties in acquiring talent—the concept of a private space career was non-existent in India. They needed specialists in various tasks. Other issues included obtaining the right quality of subsystems from suppliers and overcoming several technical hurdles in building their launch vehicles. “Despite these setbacks, we successfully built a strong team. The fact that we achieved a record-breaking first launch, with a successful maiden flight, is a testament to the talent and resilience of our people,” the co-founders say.

One milestone crossed was during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the team overcame time constraints, technological limitations and logistical hurdles. Raising capital was quite a task because the private space sector was new and there was no policy to support activities like theirs until 2021. Despite this, Skyroot won the trust of marquee investors, securing $95 million in funding so far.

As the space scene in India hots up, what distinguishes Skyroot is its speed of execution (Vikram-S traversed from the drawing board to a successful launch within two years), and their unique mix of cutting-edge innovations (all carbon fibre body, miniature avionics, and 3D-printed liquid engines) and strong domain expertise. The team’s immediate focus is the historic Vikram-1 orbital launch, a significant achievement not only for the company but for the entire Indian space sector. “This mission serves to validate our commercial launch capabilities, propelling us into the global launch market—a space where we envision a thriving future,” says Daka.

The sky is no longer the limit—it’s merely the launchpad.

Agencies