CM Revanth flags off India’s first private orbital rocket Vikram-1 at Skyroot Aerospace

Hyderabad: India’s first privately built orbital rocket took another step forward towards its historic mission as Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy flagged off Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 flight hardware to Sriharikota, where the company is expected to launch the rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in June this year.Describing it as a moment of pride for Telangana and a major milestone in the state’s ambition to emerge as a global aerospace leader, the CM pointed out that Vikram-1 was completely designed and developed in Hyderabad, indicating the growing importance of the state in India’s aerospace and space technology ecosystem.“Skyroot has developed India’s first privately built orbital rocket to carry satellites into space. The company launched its first rocket (suborbital) in 2022 and reaching the orbital launch stage in such a short time is a remarkable achievement,” said Revanth Reddy while interacting with the company’s leadership and engineering teams.Telangana Industries and IT Minister D Sridhar Babu was also present for the flag-off along with other senior officials.

The CM said that Telangana is already ranked number one in India in the aerospace sector and pointed to the presence of global big companies like Boeing, Airbus and Safran in the state. He said the government has set a long-term goal of making Telangana a global aerospace hub by 2047, with aerospace identified as one of the major growth engines of the state.He also linked the rise of the aerospace sector to the state’s export performance. Citing central government data, he said Telangana has recorded the highest growth of 117.9% in engineering goods exports among Indian states between 2023-24 and 2024-25.He said aircraft parts and defense equipment were among the biggest contributors to this surge, reflecting the rapid expansion of advanced manufacturing capabilities in the state. Revanth Reddy said the government is strongly focusing on building skilled workforce to support future growth in aerospace and other high-technology sectors.Highlighting the ongoing efforts through Young India Skills University, Advanced Technology Centers and Polytechnic Institutes, he said the state planned to bring ATCs and Polytechnics under the ambit of Skills Universities.According to him, the move is aimed at creating a uniform, industry-driven curriculum and ensuring that training remains in line with changing industrial requirements. He said that the emphasis of the government is not only on the training of students but also on improving the quality of trainers.“Our focus is on providing the best training to the trainers in these institutes. Tata Technologies is providing training to our trainers in ATCs across the state,” he said.Pawan Kumar Chandna, CEO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, said that with this flag-off it will reach Sriharikota next week where they will start assembling the rocket for launch in June this year.Chandana said Skyroot is in discussion with IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to get the launch window for the rocket.“We will announce the launch window soon,” he said, adding that the company will launch more tests after the first test launch of Vikram-1 in the next few months.“The goal by next year is to have a capacity where we can produce one rocket a month and probably sometime next year we will be able to reach the full payload capacity of 300 kilograms in each rocket,” he said.He described it as a moment of pride not only for India but also globally as very few companies in the world have the capability and technology to make rockets. “