Media365
India’s private space sector is entering a new phase, shifting from building space technologies at home to offering launch services to the world, and Skyroot Aerospace’s successful Vikram-1 mission could be the turning point in that transition, Naga Bharath Daka, COO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, said.
Skyroot’s Vikram-1 rocket lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Saturday, carrying customer payloads and in-orbit experiments on its maiden orbital mission, Mission Aagaman.
The rocket placed its payload into a 450-km orbit on its first attempt, making India the third country after the US and China to achieve orbital launch capability through a private enterprise.
The mission has given India’s emerging commercial space industry a crucial proof point as the country looks to expand its space economy from about $8.4 billion to $44 billion by 2033 and increase its share of the global space market.
Daka said the launch could help India move beyond the “Make in India” narrative and position itself as a global launch destination for satellites.
“With this mission India is going to transition from Make in India to Launch from India,” Daka said.
He said the global commercial launch market still has room for new entrants, with demand for satellite launches continuing to outpace available capacity.
“Launch demand and supply just don’t meet. With Vikram 1, satellite operators from around the world have an option to launch on their timeline, to their orbit, on demand,” Daka said.
India enters the private orbital launch race
For decades, India’s space sector was dominated by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). That changed after India opened the sector to private investment in 2020, allowing startups to build rockets, satellites and launch services.
The Vikram-1 mission now gives the private space ecosystem its first major orbital success.
The achievement also places India in the same commercial orbital launch conversation as the US and China, although Skyroot will still need to show that the success can be repeated consistently before it can compete for a larger share of the global market.
Space experts have said the company will need more successful launches before declaring the Vikram-1 system fully operational and attracting customers globally.
That challenge is especially significant because the global small-satellite launch market is already highly competitive. Small satellites are used for communications, Earth observation, research, Internet of Things networks and technology demonstrations.
Customers typically look for either low-cost rideshare opportunities or dedicated launches to precise orbits.
Daka said Skyroot’s long-term opportunity lies in giving customers greater flexibility over when and where their satellites are launched.
Private companies to become equal partners
The Vikram-1 mission could also signal a more mature phase in the relationship between India’s national space agency and private companies.
Daka said the right model for India was a clear division of labour between ISRO and private space firms.
“The right model, and it’s the one every successful spacefaring nation has followed, is a division of labour,” he said.
ISRO should focus on areas that require the capabilities of a national space agency, including deep science, interplanetary missions and strategic capabilities. Private companies, meanwhile, can take on commercial, high-cadence and cost-driven work, including launching small satellites into orbit.
“What this moment marks is the beginning of that partnership maturing. Now Skyroot can do its own end-to-end missions. It multiplies India’s total capacity,” Daka said.
The growth of a private launch industry, he said, would not be about replacing ISRO but about expanding the country’s overall space capability.
Building a rocket industry when the rules did not exist
Skyroot was founded in 2018, before India had fully opened its space sector to private companies.
Daka said the biggest hurdle in the early years was not technology but the absence of a clear framework for private rocket companies.
“When we started in 2018, the sector hadn’t been opened. There was no clear way for a private company to build a rocket, no framework to access national testing infrastructure, no precedent for launching from a government range,” he said.
The company had to build its business while the ecosystem itself was still being created.
“We were building the company and helping define the rules at the same time,” Daka said.
The creation of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, or IN-SPACe, changed the environment for private companies, he said.
The agency became a single window that helped private firms access facilities, ISRO expertise and the authorisation process needed to operate in the space sector.
Skyroot also faced the usual challenges of deep-tech hardware companies, including the need for patient capital and specialised talent.
Rockets require years of development and significant capital before they can reach the launch pad. At the same time, startups must persuade highly skilled engineers to take risks in a sector where commercial success can take years.
Daka said the key lesson for future deep-tech entrepreneurs was to develop core technologies in-house.
“Build in-house wherever the technology is core, because that’s where both your cost advantage and your learning compound,” he said.
He also said companies should not wait for ideal conditions before beginning development.
“Don’t wait for perfect conditions, because in deep tech you learn by building and flying, not by planning,” Daka said.
India needs demand, capital and infrastructure
Daka said India could learn from the development of the US commercial space industry, particularly the role played by government as an anchor customer.
He identified three areas India would need to strengthen over the next decade: demand, capital and infrastructure.
The first is demand. According to Daka, committed public procurement could give Indian space companies the order books they need to scale.
“The single biggest thing the US government did for SpaceX was become an anchor customer,” he said.
“Committed public procurement would give Indian companies the order book that justifies scaling.”
The second requirement is capital that understands the long development cycles of deep-tech hardware.
Unlike software companies, space startups require significant investment before generating returns. Investors therefore need to be comfortable with long timelines and capital intensity.
“Deep tech needs investors who are comfortable with long timelines and capital intensity, not software-style returns,” Daka said.
The third is infrastructure, especially shared testing facilities.
Daka said companies should not have to recreate the same expensive capabilities on their own. IN-SPACe has begun enabling access to such infrastructure, but the scale of these facilities will need to grow.
“Get demand, patient capital and infrastructure right, and the talent and engineering are already here,” he said.
Cadence is India’s biggest challenge
The successful Vikram-1 mission is a major milestone, but Skyroot now faces the next test: proving launch cadence.
India has several advantages that could help it become a global destination for small satellite launches, including cost competitiveness, an indigenous supply chain and available launch capacity.
The country’s geopolitical position could also be an advantage as satellite operators look for reliable and trusted launch partners.
But India still needs to build a consistent track record.
“To become a preferred destination, India has to prove two things over time, that we can launch frequently and on schedule, and that we can do it reliably, flight after flight,” Daka said.
He identified cadence as the biggest gap between India’s emerging private launch sector and established global players.
“Cadence, honestly. The established players have flown many times; we are at the beginning of that curve,” he said.
A steady manufacturing rhythm and a reliable launch record will be critical to winning international customers.
“Now our focus is on building cadence. That’s the work of the next few years, and it’s exactly what we’re built to do,” Daka said.
The challenge comes as Skyroot enters a market where companies such as SpaceX have already launched thousands of small satellites, including through dedicated rideshare programmes.
India’s private launch ecosystem is also beginning to see competition. Agnikul Cosmos is developing Agnibaan, an orbital-class launch vehicle designed to carry payloads of up to 500 kg to low Earth orbit.
Vikram-1 could unlock the wider ecosystem
The success of Mission Aagaman and Vikram-1 could have implications far beyond Skyroot Aerospace, Daka said.
For investors, a successful orbital mission reduces the perceived risk of backing India’s private space sector.
“For investors, a successful orbital flight de-risks the whole category,” he said.
It could show that Indian deep-tech hardware companies can develop and launch systems that meet global standards, potentially drawing more capital into the sector.
The mission could also influence the talent pipeline.
For young engineers, seeing a private Indian company develop and launch its own orbital rocket could expand perceptions of what can be built domestically.
“For young engineers, it changes what they believe they can build at home, which means more startups and better talent staying in India,” Daka said.
For global satellite operators, a successful mission could move India’s private launch industry from being a promising idea to a proven commercial option.
“It moves us from a promising story to a proven option, someone they can actually book,” he said.
The impact, Daka said, would extend across the wider ecosystem, including satellite companies, component suppliers, ground systems and data analytics firms.
“Every satellite company in India can now think about launching from India. Every supplier in our chain has a proof point,” Daka said.
“That’s the real shift, not that one company succeeded, but that an entire ecosystem just saw what’s possible. That’s what Vikram-1’s success unlocks.”
Beyond the ‘frugal space’ narrative
India has long been known for building relatively cost-efficient space missions. Private companies are now trying to combine that cost advantage with new technologies and commercial business models.
Skyroot has used technologies including carbon composite materials and 3D printing as part of efforts to reduce costs and improve manufacturing efficiency.
Daka said cost competitiveness would remain important, but private companies would ultimately have to compete globally on reliability, schedule and commercial performance.
A successful launch capability could also have strategic implications for India.
A stronger private space ecosystem could support the government’s broader push for self-reliance in critical technologies, including defence.
Private launch companies could contribute to greater resilience and faster innovation, even though commercial launchers would not replace dedicated military space systems.
The wider impact could be felt in satellite manufacturing, electronics, sensors and semiconductor components.
The success of companies such as SpaceX and Starlink has shown the scale of demand that can emerge when launch, satellite and data capabilities develop together.
For India, the next five years could therefore be crucial in building what industry leaders describe as a full-stack space ecosystem.
The successful Vikram-1 launch has provided the first major proof point. The next challenge will be turning that proof point into a repeatable business.
For Daka, that is exactly where the real opportunity begins.
“Every satellite company in India can now think about launching from India. Every supplier in our chain has a proof point,” he said.
“That’s the real shift, not that one company succeeded, but that an entire ecosystem just saw what’s possible.”
