Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually inaugurated India’s first privately developed satellite, Vikram-1, along with Skyroot Aerospace’s 2 lakh sq ft “Infinity Campus” in Hyderabad, marking another milestone in the country’s fast-evolving commercial space sector.
The new facility, described as the largest private rocket-manufacturing plant in India, will be capable of integrating one Vikram-series orbital launch vehicle every month, significantly enhancing the Hyderabad-based start-up’s on-demand launch capacity.
“Today the private sector is taking great strides in India’s space ecosystem. Skyroot’s Infinity Campus is a reflection of India’s new thinking, innovation and, most importantly, youth power,” Mr Modi said in his video-conference address. He added that the government’s space-sector reforms, introduced in recent years, had enabled private players such as Skyroot to design, develop and launch indigenously built rockets and satellites.
The prime minister highlighted that India is on course to become a leader in the global small-satellite launch ecosystem, with the country’s space economy poised for rapid expansion. “In the future, India will emerge as a leader in the global satellite launch ecosystem,” he stated.
Skyroot Aerospace, founded in 2018 by former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, successfully orbited Vikram S – India’s first privately built sub-orbital rocket – in November 2022 from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The company’s upcoming Vikram-1 orbital vehicle, assisted in its early stages by ISRO and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), is engineered to deploy multiple small satellites into low-earth orbit.
Speaking at the event, Mr Daka, co-founder and chief operating officer of Skyroot, said the expanded facility would enable the company to integrate one Vikram rocket every month and support its ambition of achieving 50 launches by 2030. The rockets are manufactured using advanced carbon-fibre composites and 3D-printed components.
The Infinity Campus, an extension of Skyroot’s existing Max-Q headquarters, is India’s first privately designed and developed rocket integration and testing complex. The company has so far generated over 100 high-technology jobs and plans to create several thousand more in the coming years as production scales.
Mr Modi praised the young founders, noting: “Both of you young people are a huge inspiration for many space entrepreneurs and every youth of the country. You both believed in yourselves and did not shy away from taking risks.”
The prime minister also emphasised the broader societal impact of the commercial space sector, which he said now underpinned communications, agriculture, urban planning, weather forecasting, maritime monitoring and national security. He reiterated his government’s commitment to opening the sector to private innovation, adding that more than 300 space start-ups have emerged in India in recent years, with Gen-Z talent at the forefront.
The event underscores the rapid maturation of India’s private space industry, with Skyroot positioning itself among a handful of global companies capable of delivering cost-effective, frequent small-satellite launches. The company is also exploring opportunities in the nuclear sector for private players, as the government moves to deepen industry participation in strategic high-technology domains.
