Full Story of India's First Private Orbital Rocket
Skyroot Aerospace: The Full Story Behind India's First Private Orbital Rocket On 18th July 2026, at 12:05 PM IST, a rocket built entirely by a private Indian company lifted off from Sriharikota and reached orbit on its very first attempt. With that single flight, India became only the third country in the world — after the United States and China — to have a privately built rocket successfully reach orbit. The company behind it, Skyroot Aerospace, has been quietly building toward this moment for eight years. This post covers the whole journey: who started Skyroot, every major test that got them here, both of their rocket launches in full detail, and what they're planning next. Where It All Started Skyroot Aerospace was founded on 12th June 2018 in Hyderabad, by two former ISRO scientists — Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka. Chandana, an IIT Kharagpur graduate, had spent years working on ISRO's LVM3 rocket, nicknamed " Bahubali ," which later carrie...