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Skyroot Aerospace

Overview

Skyroot Aerospace is an Indian private spaceflight company engaged in the design and development of small satellite launch vehicles. Headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana, the company is one of the earliest private firms in India to enter the orbital launch segment, operating in the period following the opening up of the Indian space sector to private participation.

Type Private company
Industry Aerospace, spaceflight
Founded 2018
Founders Pawan Kumar Chandana, Naga Bharath Daka
Headquarters Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Products Vikram series of small satellite launch vehicles
Country India

Background

Skyroot Aerospace was founded in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, both former engineers at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The company was established to develop low-cost, reliable launch vehicles for the small satellite market, a segment that has grown rapidly with the proliferation of CubeSats and small commercial payloads.

The company's emergence coincided with policy reforms in India that allowed private firms wider access to space-related infrastructure and technology. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) was set up by the Government of India to facilitate private sector participation, and Skyroot subsequently signed agreements with ISRO permitting the use of its facilities and expertise for testing and development.

Vikram launch vehicles

Skyroot's launch vehicle family is named Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, regarded as the founder of the Indian space programme. The series is intended to span multiple configurations to address different small satellite payload classes destined for low Earth orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit. The vehicles use a combination of solid and liquid propulsion stages, with the company developing its own propulsion technologies including all-composite solid rocket motors.

Vikram-S and the Prarambh mission

On 18 November 2022, Skyroot Aerospace launched Vikram-S, a single-stage sub-orbital sounding rocket, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The mission, named Prarambh (meaning "the beginning"), made Skyroot the first Indian private company to launch a rocket into space. The flight served as a technology demonstrator for systems intended to be used in the larger orbital Vikram series.

Significance

Skyroot Aerospace is widely regarded as a pioneering entity in India's emerging private space sector. Its activities are often cited alongside those of other Indian private launch firms as examples of the diversification of the country's space industry beyond ISRO. The Prarambh launch in 2022 is considered a milestone in the commercialisation of Indian spaceflight.

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