Private firms drive India’s space push

HYDERABAD

Skyroot Aerospace is scheduled to attempt India’s first launch of a privately developed orbital-class rocket on July 18, as private firms take a larger role in the country’s space program.

The Vikram-1 test flight will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the company said.

“It’s a milestone for Skyroot and for India,” co-founder and chief executive Pawan Kumar Chandana told AFP.

India opened its space sector to private companies in 2020. It now has more than 400 space startups, which have attracted over $500 million, including nearly $150 million in 2025, according to government data.

The country’s space economy, valued at about $8.4 billion, is targeted to reach $44 billion by 2033.

The startups have built on six decades of work by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Skyroot, founded in 2018 by former ISRO engineers, launched India’s first privately built suborbital rocket in 2022 and says its Telangana facility can build one orbital vehicle a month.

Satellite makers are also expanding. Pixxel builds hyperspectral imaging satellites for customers in India, Europe and the United States, while GalaxEye is targeting Earth-observation and defense work.

GalaxEye recently lost contact with Drishti, India’s largest privately developed Earth-observation satellite, after an anomaly linked to a solar storm. Founder Suyash Singh said the experience would inform future missions.

Industry executives say access to specialist talent and capital remains difficult. Pixxel chief executive Awais Ahmed said the government should absorb some of the early risk, while Chandana said public agencies could serve as anchor customers for emerging companies.