BENGALURU: Skyroot Aerospace, a private space company, on Thursday announced its maiden test flight of the Vikram-1 launch vehicle between July 12 and August 4 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
This is India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket. Its launch depends on successful testing operations, weather conditions and clearances from the agencies concerned.
“The most important objective of Mission Aagaman is to capture the real in-flight performance data from every system on Vikram-1. We want to understand how the vehicle performs from lift-off through every phase of ascent. This data cannot be fully replicated through ground testing. It will help in validating designs and inform subsequent vehicle development to build a reliable, high-cadence commercial launch programme,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace. This will be Syroot’s second mission. Its suborbital flight Vikram-S was the first private rocket to reach space on November 18, 2022.
It is a technology demonstration-cum learning mission done in coordination with the Union government, IN-SPACe and ISRO, said Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder and COO, Skyroot Aerospace.
Vikram-1 is a seven-storey-tall, multi-stage orbital launch vehicle built with an all-carbon composite structure and powered by in-house developed propulsion systems, including 3D-printed engines and high-thrust solid-fuel rocket boosters. Designed to carry small satellites weighing up to 350kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Vikram-1’s maiden mission will target an orbit at an altitude of 450km with a 60-degree orbital inclination.
The flight-ready rocket was unveiled by PM Narendra Modi in November 2025 during the inauguration of Skyroot’s Infinity campus in Hyderabad.
JNCASR PRESIDENT IS SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Bengaluru: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) president Prof Umesh V Waghmare is appointed as Secretary of the Department of Science & Technology (DST, Government of India). His appointment was finalised by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on July 1. He is a theoretical physicist who graduated with a silver medal in Engineering Physics from IIT Bombay in 1990.
He earned his doctorate from Yale University in 1996, and completed postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He joined JNCASR in 2000 and has been a professor in its Theoretical Sciences Unit. Having been a past president of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bengaluru), Prof Waghmare’s accolades include the Infosys Prize and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.
