Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: As Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket stands ready for launch at Sriharikota, IN-SPACe Chairman Dr Pawan Goenka has described the moment as a landmark achievement not just for the private space company but for India and the global space industry, calling it a defining moment in the growth of India’s private space sector.
From Two ISRO Engineers to a Ready-to-Launch Rocket in Eight Years
Skyroot was founded in 2018 by former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka with the ambitious goal of building private launch vehicles in India. Dr Goenka noted that very few companies globally have achieved what Skyroot has managed in such a short span, calling it one of the fastest such transformations in the world, taking the company from two engineers leaving ISRO to a rocket ready for launch within eight years.
Vikram-1 Passed Reviews as Rigorous as ISRO Missions
Dr Goenka said Skyroot’s rocket underwent an evaluation process as demanding as those applied to ISRO missions, involving multiple iterations and requiring the company to respond to every concern raised by the review committee. While expressing confidence in the rocket’s readiness, he acknowledged that spaceflight carries inherent risk and that no launch can ever be guaranteed complete success, though he said the confidence level following such rigorous testing was as high as it could be.
India Aims to Become Global Hub for Small Satellite Launches
Beyond the Vikram-1 launch itself, Dr Goenka pointed to India’s broader ambition of becoming a global hub for launching small satellites, an effort that requires launch infrastructure, satellite manufacturers, ground stations and regulatory support. He revealed that India is developing a dedicated small satellite launch facility at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu, which could eventually be managed by the private sector while remaining under ISRO’s ownership, describing it as another step toward building a complete commercial space ecosystem.
Goenka Dismisses Concerns Over Talent Moving from ISRO to Private Sector
Addressing concerns that the rise of private space companies could pull talent away from ISRO, Dr Goenka firmly rejected the notion, calling it a win-win rather than a win-lose situation, and pointed out that Skyroot’s founders themselves emerged from ISRO. He expressed confidence that ISRO’s talent base remains strong enough to support both national missions and commercial ventures, while praising Skyroot’s young team, whose average age is around 28, and assured that IN-SPACe and ISRO would continue supporting the company’s growth going forward.
