India’s first privately developed orbital rocket has reached orbit, with the successful launch of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 under Mission Aagaman, marking a watershed moment for the country’s commercial space sector.
The mission demonstrates that Indian private companies can now design, build and fly orbital launch vehicles, opening a new chapter in a space programme that has historically been led by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The launch is significant because it validates years of policy reforms aimed at opening India’s space sector to private participation.
Since the introduction of the Indian Space Policy 2023, private companies have been allowed to participate across the space value chain, from launch vehicles and satellites to downstream services.
Those reforms, together with the work of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), have helped create one of the world’s fastest-growing space startup ecosystems.
