Skyroot to invest Rs 1,000 cr to enhance capabilities, to launch Vikram-I in 2 months

HYDERABAD: Space startup Skyroot will invest Rs 1,000 crore in the near future, aiming to become one of the very few companies worldwide to achieve rapid and on demand launch capable facility, Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder and COO, Skyroot Aerospace said here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Skyroot Aerospace's Infinity Campus and unveiled Vikram-1, developed by the city-based firm, the country's first private commercial rocket.

In his address, Daka said, "Your (PM Modi’s) decisive space reforms unlocked the skies for us to fly. Today skyroot generated over 1,000 hitech jobs and we will invest over Rs 1,000 crore in the near future to become one of the very few companies worldwide to achieve rapid and on-demand launch capability."

Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot, said Vikram-I India’s first private commercial rocket, fully designed and built in the country by the space startup, will be launched in the next two months.

The new facility complements Skyroot's existing Max-Q Campus, a 55,000-square-foot integrated rocket design and development facility established in 2023.

The flight-ready Vikram-1 rocket unveiled Thursday by PM Modi was designed and developed in-house by Skyroot in under four years and can deploy multiple satellites to Earth's orbit in a single mission, a release from the company said.

It is India's first launch vehicle made entirely from carbon fiber, offering superior strength-to-weight performance, 3D-printed hypergolic engines, showcasing advanced manufacturing capabilities and Kalam-1200 booster stage built with advanced carbon composite, it further said.

The company made history in 2022 by launching India's first private rocket, Vikram-S. The technologies proven in Vikram-S accelerated the development of Skyroot's larger orbital class rocket, Vikram-1, the release added.