India’s first private orbital rocket mission achieved more than just a historic satellite launch. The four-stage Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 12.05 pm on Saturday, making Skyroot the first private Indian company to place payloads into orbit. The milestone also places India alongside the United States and China as one of the few countries with private orbital launch capability.
What Did Skyroot’s Vikram-1 Carry Into Space?
Along with multiple technology-demonstration payloads, Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket also carried symbolic items, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handwritten postcard, an 18-carat gold rocket, and a lab-grown diamond shaped like a lotus, all of which were successfully placed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
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The handwritten postcard from Prime Minister Narendra Modi carrying the message “Vande Mataram.” After the successful deployment, Skyroot CEO and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana informed the Prime Minister that his postcard had reached orbit.
“Your card has successfully reached orbit. Vande Mataram is in orbit,” Chandana told Modi during a phone call.
Responding to the achievement, Modi noted that India is celebrating 150 years of “Vande Mataram”, saying the national song had inspired generations of Indians.
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Gold Rocket And Lotus-Shaped Diamond Also Sent Into Orbit
The mission also carried two unique symbolic payloads:
- Cosmic Bloom – a lab-grown diamond crafted in the shape of a lotus.
- An 18-carat gold miniature rocket featuring micro-sculptures of Indian space pioneers Vikram Sarabhai, Sir C.V. Raman and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
These payloads accompanied the primary technology demonstration satellites deployed into a 450-km Low Earth Orbit.
Multiple Technology Payloads Successfully Deployed
Following launch, Vikram-1 sequentially deployed several technology demonstration payloads, including:
- SCOPE – Skyroot Aerospace’s in-house experimental satellite.
- Solaras by Grahaa Space.
- Embrace by Cosmoserve Space, designed to demonstrate robotic arms for future space debris removal.
- German technology payloads uD3PP and mD3RN by Dcubed.
Skyroot said data collected during the mission would help validate the rocket’s guidance and navigation systems ahead of future commercial launches.
PM Modi Hails Historic Achievement
Congratulating the Skyroot team, Prime Minister Modi described the mission as a defining moment for India’s space ambitions.
“Spoke to the team of Skyroot Aerospace and congratulated them on the successful launch of Vikram-1. This is a defining moment in India’s space journey. The growing participation of our private sector is opening new frontiers and accelerating innovation. This achievement will encourage countless youngsters to dream bigger and innovate fearlessly,” he posted on X.
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Chandana highlighted that the rocket was completely designed and built in India, calling the mission a landmark for the country’s private space sector.
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan also praised the achievement, noting that India had just one space startup when the sector was opened to private players in 2020. Today, the country has more than 400 space startups, with Skyroot becoming the first to successfully achieve an orbital launch.
