India’s first private orbital rocket, Vikram-1, stands fully stacked at Sriharikota; components being assembled for the upcoming ‘Mission Aagaman’ test flight. (Credit:Instagram/@skyrootaerospace)
Vikram 1, India’s first private orbital rocket is ready for its first test flight under ‘Mission Aagaman’. It is scheduled for launch between July 12- August 4, 2026 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
“The vehicle is now fully stacked at India’s historic First Launch Pad (FLP)”, according to a post by Skyroot Aerospace on X. The space tech firm also thanked ISRO and INSPACe for their support in this mission, as the countdown to this new phase in India’s space journey begins.
What is the Vikram-1 lander?
Developed for carrying smaller satellites, Vikram 1 has an all-carbon composite structure with solid fuel boosters, and a 3D printed liquid engine. Manufactured entirely in India, it can carry up to 350kg till low Earth orbit, and up to 260 kg to the sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). An SSO is a near-polar orbit where a satellite passes over any given point on Earth’s surface at the same exact local mean solar time every day.
According to the description on Skyroot’s website Vikram 1 is an “on-demand launch vehicle for rapid, precise, and customisable small satellite deployments”.
The journey of Vikram 1’s creation has been documented on their Youtube and Instagram channels where they also mention that the rocket has “no pilot and no joystick, just the onboard intelligence that gets it to orbit.”
Its guidance, navigation, and control system algorithms coordinate with the flight sequence software, led by its mission computer Ramanujan, to allow the rocket to make autonomous decisions while in orbit.
India’s private sector space journey
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace is India’s first space startup to sign an MoU with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch a rocket into space.
The ‘Vikram-S’, a small experimental rocket launched in November 2022, marked India’s first successful privately built sub-orbital flight. Dubbed ‘Mission Prarambh’, it only circled the earth, and was not meant to deploy satellites.
Story continues below this ad
Now, Vikram 1, India’s first privately designed and built rocket aims to deploy satellites by August 4, taking India’s space journey one step further.