Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 5, 2026

Skyroot Aerospace

Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited is a private Indian aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. The company was founded by former engineers and scientists from ISRO.

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Jul 5, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗
Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited
Company type
Private
IndustrySpace
Founded12 June 2018 (2018-06-12)
Founder
  • Pawan Kumar Chandana
  • Naga Bharath Daka
Headquarters
Hyderabad, Telangana
,
India
Key people
  • Pawan Kumar Chandana
    (Co-founder, CEO & CTO)
  • Naga Bharath Daka
    (Co-founder & COO)
ProductsLaunch vehicles
ServicesLaunch service provider
RevenueIncrease ₹0.4 crore (US$42,000) (FY23)1
Number of employees
1000+2 (2026)
Websiteskyroot.in

Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited is a private Indian aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. The company was founded by former engineers and scientists from ISRO.

The company specialises in small-lift launch vehicles such as Vikram-I, especially crafted for the small satellite market. The company was started in a small setup in Kondapur in 2018 with a team of ten individuals. Incubated in T–Hub and supported by T–Works, Skyroot became the first private space-tech company in India to launch a suborbital rocket.34

History

Initial logo of Skyroot source ↗
Pawan Kumar Chandana (CEO & CTO) and Naga Bharath Daka (COO) (standing on left and right respectively of Union minister Jitendra Singh in middle) on the eve of successful Vikram S launch5 source ↗

Skyroot Aerospace was formed in July 2018 by former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana, Naga Bharath Daka through the support of V. G. Gandhi as well as a small group of entrepreneurs including CureFit founders Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagor.6 Skyroot has initially raised US$4.3 million, including from space and defence contractor Solar Industries.7 The company has been developing its first launch vehicle, the Vikram-I, which is on track for its initial launch around the mid of 2025.89

On 6 October 2020, the National Startup Awards 2020 were declared by the Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal, where Skyroot Aerospace emerged as the winner. The National Startup Awards are given in recognition of startups across several categories that offer novel solutions for complex problems in the country, and creating businesses that are scalable and sustainable.10

On 2 February 2021, ISRO and Skyroot Aerospace signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The NDA will allow Skyroot Aerospace to access the facilities and technical expertise in ISRO centers to develop their launch vehicles.11 On 8 February 2021, Skyroot Aerospace announced that they partnered with Bellatrix Aerospace to use the Orbital Transfer Vehicle of Bellatrix Aerospace with their Vikram series of Launch Vehicles. In March 2021, Skyroot Aerospace team won the Aegis Graham Bell Award for Jury choice award under innovation category for the year 2020.12

On 20 May 2021, Skyroot Aerospace had raised $11 million in Series A funding round led by promoters of renewable energy firm Greenko Group (Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli), with participation of investors including Solar Industries and former WhatsApp Chief Business Office (CBO) Neeraj Arora, Mukesh Bansal founder of Myntra & Curefit, Worldquant Ventures, Graph Ventures, Sutton Capital, Vedanshu Investments and few other angels. Skyroot Aerospace will be deploying these funds to grow its team and complete the full development and testing of all subsystems of 'Vikram-I' launch vehicle. Skyroot has already started bookings for launches starting end 2022 and are actively engaging global customers13

The Department of Space (DoS) has signed an agreement with Skyroot Aerospace for providing it access to ISRO's facilities and expertise towards testing of sub-systems and systems of launch vehicles. Skyroot Aerospace has, therefore, become the first Indian startup to formally enter into an agreement with ISRO for using its assets since the announcement of the new policy decision of the Government of India in May 2020, when finance minister opened up the space sector and ISRO's facilities for private players. Finally on 11 September 2021, ISRO's scientific secretary and chairman of interim IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) committee R Umamaheswaran, who represented the DoS, Skyroot Aerospace CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana and COO Naga Bharath Daka signed this framework MoU.14 On 22 September 2021, the list of "The 2021 LinkedIn Top Startups" was revealed with 25 young, emerging companies where India wants to work. Skyroot Aerospace was ranked 7th on this LinkedIn's 2021 Top Startups List in India.

Rebranding
New logo
Skyroot New Logo
New logo source ↗
 Old logo
Skyroot Old Logo
Old logo source ↗
Skyroot Aerospace launch vehicles featured at IAC 2022. source ↗

On 10 May 2022, Skyroot Aerospace announced their new identity reflecting their ambition to reach the stars with a goal of "Opening Space for all." Their logo subtly crystallizes the acronym 'SR' of Skyroot into a rocket-plane, while the sharp edges represent their "cutting-edge tech."

On 18 November 2022 Skyroot Aerospace performed the maiden launch of its Vikram-S suborbital rocket from Indian soil, becoming the first Indian private company to reach outer space (apogee was 89.5 km).1516

In October 2023, the company announced it had raised $27.5 million in a pre-Series C funding round led by Temasek Holdings, bringing the total amount raised since its inception to about $95 million. According to the company, the funding is intended to accelerate launches planned for the next two years.1718

The Government of Telangana has signed an agreement with Skyroot Aerospace in January 2025 at the World Economic Forum to establish an integrated private rocket manufacturing, integration, and testing facility in Telangana with an estimated investment of ₹500 crores.19

On 7 May 2026, with its latest funding round of approximately $60 million, the company achieved the distinction of becoming India's first space-tech unicorn, crossing the $1.1 billion valuation mark.20

Hardware

Launch vehicles

Skyroot Aerospace has been working on its Vikram series of expendable small-lift launchers. Rockets are designed for very quick assemblies.21

Vikram rocket family source ↗

Vikram-I

Vikram-I is a four-stage, expendable orbital small-lift launch vehicle. Its first three stages are solid stages, while the fourth stage is a liquid stage. The company is planning the maiden launch of Vikram-I by the second quarter of 2026.22

Vikram-II

Vikram-II is an under-development small-lift launch vehicle. The rocket will use a upper-stage cryogenic engine powered by the Dhawan-series rocket engine and is intended for launching small satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

Vikram series launch vehicles
Launch Vehicle Payload capacity First flight Last flight Total launches
SSPO
(500 km) 		Low Earth orbit
(500 km; 45°)
Vikram-S (suborbital) – – 18 November 2022 18 November 2022 1
Vikram-I 260 kg (570 lb) 350 kg (770 lb) 2026 (planned) 0
Vikram-II 600 kg (1,300 lb) 900 kg (2,000 lb) 2027 (planned) 0

Rocket engines

Skyroot has produced several different classes of rocket engines for each of their rockets.

Solid rocket motor

Kalam-5

On 22 December 2020, Skyroot tested the solid-fuel rocket engine Kalam-5 (named after A. P. J. Abdul Kalam), the first of five planned carbon-composite Kalam rocket motors which are expected to power its launch vehicles.232425 The test happened in Nagpur at a private test facility owned by Solar Industries, which is also an investor in Skyroot. In the name 'Kalam-5', the 5 refers to the peak sea level thrust of 5.3 kN.26 The final engine in the series will be four times the size of Kalam-5.

Kalam-100

On 19 May 2022, a test firing of Skyroot's Vikram-I completed successfully. It was named Kalam-100 after Indian rocket scientist A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The third stage of Vikram-I produced a peak vacuum thrust of 100 kN (or ~10 Tons) and had a burn time of 108 sec. Vikram-I's stage was built with high-strength carbon fiber structure, solid fuel, a novel thermal protection system, and carbon ablative nozzle. This testing will help Skyroot in development of orbital vehicle Vikram-I and gives great confidence for the other rocket stages planned to be tested soon. This is largest rocket stage ever designed, manufactured, and tested completely in the private sector. There was a good match of test results with the design predictions in the very first attempt, which is a testimony to the team's capabilities. The state-of-the-art technology like carbon composite case, high propellant volumetric loading up to 94%, lighter EPDM based thermal protection system, and submerged nozzle have been validated through the successful static test.27

Earth-storable rocket engine

Raman-1

In August 2020, Skyroot first came into the limelight when it test-fired the Raman-1 (named after C. V. Raman) hypergolic-fuel upper stage engine. This liquid-fuel upper stage is a component of Vikram-I and Skyroot was the first Indian private entity to test such an engine.28293031

Cryogenic rocket engine

Dhawan-1

On 25 September 2020, Skyroot Aerospace unveiled the Dhawan-1 (named after Satish Dhawan) upper stage cryogenic engine that will power heavier-lift systems such as Vikram-II.3233 This is the first cryogenic engine in India that will use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel; this fuel has the advantages of being clean, renewable and suited for long duration space missions. Dhawan-1 is 3D printed and designed with a regenerative cooling configuration.34

On 25 November 2021, Skyroot successfully test fired India's first privately developed small cryogenic engine called Dhawan-1 running on LNG and liquid oxygen (LOX) with pressure-fed engine cycle. It was a technology demonstration experiment for the upper stage of Vikram-II rocket that is under active development. Solar Industries provided the test site. The engine made by 3D printing process and using super alloys.35

Facilities

MAX-Q

On 24 October 2023, the largest private integrated rocket development facility in India was unveiled by Skyroot Aerospace.3637 It is situated next to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and spans 60,000 square feet. With space for about 300 personnel, this facility will host Skyroot's integrated design, manufacturing, and testing infrastructure for developing rockets.3839

Infinity Campus

On 27 November 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Infinity Campus of Skyroot Aerospace. Spread across 200,000 square feet in Hyderabad, this facility will be able to design, manufacture, integrate, and test a number of launch vehicles and produce one orbital rocket each month.4041

Industry collaboration

An agreement has been signed by Nibe Space, a division of Nibe Defence and Aerospace on 9 September 2024, with Skyroot Aerospace, AgniKul Cosmos, Centum Electronics, SpaceFields, Sisir Radar, CYRAN AI Solutions, and Larsen & Toubro for the launch of India's first constellation of multi-sensor, all-weather, high-revisit Earth observation satellites.42

On 25 June 2025, Skyroot Aerospace and Axiom Space signed an MoU to work together to increase access to LEO.43 Skyroot Aerospace and Axiom Space will look into orbital and launch systems that are integrated for next trips to Axiom Station and beyond.44 The two businesses intend to look into potential joint ventures for the construction of space infrastructure.45 By connecting Axiom's under-construction commercial space station and other LEO projects with Skyroot's upcoming Vikram-I launch capability, the partnership hopes to create a new logistics corridor for research payloads, orbital data-center nodes, and upcoming commercial missions.46

  • Vikram-S rocket. The first ever privately launched rocket of India.
    Vikram-S rocket. The first ever privately launched rocket of India.
See also

See also

References

References

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External links