India's first private orbital-class rocket test flight successful

India's first private orbital-class rocket, Vikram 1, successfully completed its test flight. The seven-storey-tall, four-stage rocket carried multiple technology-demonstration payloads into orbit at an altitude of 450 km and an inclination of 60 degrees. Vikram-1 rocket lifted off at 12.05 pm on Saturday from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Named 'Mission Aagaman (arrival)', the test flight's launch marked a historic milestone for the country's commercial space sector, executed by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace. The successful Vikram-1 launch will take Skyroot closer to its goal of offering what it calls a 'cab service to space,' where companies can hire a rocket 'to ride to a unique location in orbit to place a satellite or visit a space station,' the BBC reported.