HYDERABAD: Skyroot's landmark launch has given India's private space ambitions their biggest boost yet. But can one successful mission transform Hyderabad into the country's spacetech capital, or is the harder journey only just beginning?When Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 pierced the skies above Sriharikota on July 18, it did far more than place four satellite payloads into a 450-km low-Earth orbit.

This article is authored by Gunwant Singh, scholar, international relations and security studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

India has long been recognised as a space power. The next chapter is about becoming a technology-enabled development power