Skyroot rocket puts India alongside U.S., China in private orbital launch
Hello, I am Priyanka Salve, writing to you from Singapore.
Welcome to the latest edition “in india“ — your one-stop source for stories and developments from the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
On Saturday, Indian space technology startup Skyroot successfully tested a low-orbit rocket carrying a 350-kilogram payload, marking its entry into the global satellite launch market dominated by American and Chinese companies. I caught up with Skyroot’s co-founder to reveal what the future holds for the country’s first space tech unicorn.
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Skyroot will begin commercial operations in 2027 and plans to launch “one flight every month,” it told CNBC, adding that the launches will be commercialized after a test flight later this year.
“We will be the most cost-competitive launch vehicle in this field [small payload]Even before economies of scale kick in,” Daka said.
Cost competitiveness has been the hallmark of India’s space technology. In the past, the government agency Indian Space Research Organization has conducted Mars and Moon missions at a fraction of the cost spent by countries in the West. Sykroot’s founders Daka and Pawan Kumar Chandana are former employees of ISRO.
Referring to Elon Musk SpaceXDaka said the company pursued a “fail smarter and grow faster” strategy, which led to rapid technological progress but “burned a lot of money.” “We had to be extremely careful with the money,” and the focus was on getting it “right the first time.”
Entering the global arena
Skyroot successfully launched at 11:30 am Indian Standard Time on Saturday. By launching a test rocket carrying a 350 kilogram payload into low orbit, it became the first Indian private company with orbital space launch capability, joining the league of China and the US.
Skyroot will compete with US-based startups in the sub-1,000 kg market Rocket Lab, Firefly AviationAccording to data shared by Astra Space and Chinese private companies i-Space, Galactic Energy, CAS Space, market intelligence firm Analysys Mason.
Small launchers solve critical operational, strategic and financial bottlenecks that large “bus lines” to space (think larger payload carriers like SpaceX) cannot overcome.
“A small rocket acts like a taxi, orbiting on demand,” explains Ujjwal Chaudhry, a partner at Analysys Mason.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan (2L), Skyroot Aerospace CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana (2R), COO and co-founder Naga Bharath Daka (3R) pose with a replica of the Vikram-1 rocket at a press conference after its successful launch from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, an island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, on July 18, 2026. The company said its specially built orbital rocket made its maiden flight on July 18, marking a significant step for the South Asian giant as it aims for a larger slice of the global space economy. (Photo: R. Satish BABU / AFP via Getty Images)
R. Satish Babu | Afp | Getty Images
Unlike large launchers, where satellite operators drop payloads into approximate locations using internal fuel and time, they deliver a single customer’s payload directly to its precise location in space, he said.
These rockets offer a dedicated launch window so small satellites don’t have to wait to “share the road” with larger satellite launches.
Although the market size is only $5 billion in 2025, according to Analysys Mason, fewer companies operating in this space are pushing launch schedules forward by a year or two. In May, California-based Rocket Labs said its order backlog of booked launches had more than doubled from a year ago to $2.2 billion. until 2029.
The company’s market cap is more than $43 billion, compared with Skyroot’s $1.1 billion valuation at the time of its $60 million fundraising in May.
The Indian space tech startup has raised just $150 million since its founding in 2018, and Daka told CNBC that the company is “well-funded” to conduct commercial launches next year. The company will raise funds as it intensifies efforts to develop a reusable rocket, he said, adding that this is not an immediate plan.
Experts pointed out that while U.S. firms have a strong private market funding stream for space technology startups, Chinese companies are backed by the government. Meanwhile, Indian companies in this sector are having difficulty finding funding.
“The pool of patient capital for space technology in India is still shallow relative to the opportunity,” said Natasha Malpani Oswal, founder and general partner of venture capital firm Boundless Ventures.
The fact that sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors such as BlackRock and GIC have backed Skyroot is a sign that capital is finding its way at scale in later stages, he said, adding that it was “new and not a model yet.”
If Skyroot’s low-cost structure helps it generate high profits even as its global peers burn cash, investors will likely be more open to putting their money into the space sector.
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