ISRO chief hails Skyroot’s Vikram-1 launch as milestone for India’s private space sector

ISRO Chairman Dr V. Narayanan hailed Skyroot Aerospace's successful Vikram-1 launch as a landmark achievement for India's private space sector, while IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka described the mission as "an India moment" that showcased the country's growing space capabilities.

New Delhi: The successful maiden orbital launch of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 is a remarkable 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.

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“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 stated.

Also speaking on the occasion, 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.

Earlier in the day, 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.