What started as an ambitious idea by two former ISRO scientists in 2018 has grown into India's biggest private space success story, with Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka leading Skyroot Aerospace to the country's first private orbital launch.
Former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka founded Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace in 2018 with the ambition of making satellite launches as routine and affordable as booking a commercial flight.
The founders now lead the company as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, overseeing a team of more than 1,000 professionals working across rocket design, propulsion, avionics and launch systems.
More than two decades ago, Pawan Kumar Chandana cleared the IIT entrance exam in his first attempt and joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.
While many engineering graduates chose high-paying jobs in the technology industry, Chandana was passionate about space and rockets.
His interest led him to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where he was recruited directly from the IIT Kharagpur campus.
At ISRO, he worked on the GSLV Mk III, India's heaviest launch vehicle, and played a role in its development.
His work earned him an internal innovation award. During his six years at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Chandana gained valuable experience in rocket design and development while contributing to India's growing space programme.
Naga Bharath Daka is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Skyroot Aerospace. Before starting the company, he worked as a flight computer engineer at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where he designed and developed several avionics modules for Indian launch vehicles.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Daka holds a master's degree in Microelectronics and VLSI Design. He also has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
He has extensive experience in avionics, semiconductor technologies and FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) systems, which has played a key role in the development of Skyroot Aerospace's launch vehicles.
The successful maiden orbital launch of Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 is a landmark achievement for India's growing space ecosystem and reflects the rapid progress of the country's private space sector, ISRO Chairman Dr V. Narayanan said on Saturday.
Addressing the media after the successful orbital mission, Narayanan said developing an orbital launch vehicle and achieving mission success on the very first attempt within just eight years of the company's inception was an extraordinary accomplishment.
"Skyroot Aerospace started just eight years back, and developing an orbital launch vehicle and making it a successful mission on the first attempt is really a great achievement," he said.
The ISRO Chairman added that India's space ecosystem has witnessed rapid growth under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with increasing participation from private enterprises complementing the country's national space programme.
"It's a great satisfaction for everyone in our country, especially the space community. We are so proud of this great achievement. Surely, you will all agree with me that India's space ecosystem is growing under the leadership of the Prime Minister of India," Narayanan said.
Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) Chairman Pawan Goenka described the successful launch as "an India moment" rather than comparing it with milestones achieved elsewhere.
"When India will have its first SpaceX moment? I don't want to call it a SpaceX moment because I don't want to compare what happened today to something else that happened far away in a different company. What we witnessed today was an India moment," Goenka said while congratulating the Skyroot Aerospace team.
Goenka also formally announced the successful completion of India's first-ever private sector orbital launch, noting that the mission had significantly exceeded its primary objective.
"I am pleased to formally announce that the first ever Indian private sector launch has been successfully completed. Not only did Vikram-1 meet its mission objective, which was simply to clear the tower, it went all the way up to a 453-km orbit," he said.
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched Vikram-1 under Mission Aagaman from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota earlier in the day, marking India's first successful private orbital rocket launch.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the achievement, saying it reflected India's growing self-reliance in the space sector. Speaking over the phone with Skyroot Aerospace CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana and co-founder Naga Bharath Daka, who were present at ISRO's Mission Control Centre during the launch, the Prime Minister congratulated the team on the historic milestone.
He said the success of Mission Aagaman demonstrated that India was capable of becoming Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) in advanced space technologies and wished the company continued success in its future missions.
Chandana informed the Prime Minister that the Vikram-1 rocket was completely designed and manufactured in India. Referring to the postcard carrying the words "Vande Mataram" that flew aboard the launch vehicle, he told the Prime Minister, "Your card has successfully reached orbit. Vande Mataram is in orbit."
