India heralded an unprecedented era in space as India’s Skyroot Aerospace company became the first-ever private company in the world to successfully launch its very first rocket and satellite in space on 18th July 2026. Vikram 1’s Mission Aagman was flawless, giving teeth to India’s Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat missions. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally called the Skyroot Aerospace team to celebrate the historic, successful maiden orbital launch of the Vikram-1 rocket. The rocket launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, successfully placing India among only three countries with private orbital launch capabilities. 

The landmark achievement includes these key details:

Vikram-1 is India's first privately developed orbital-class rocket.

The rocket injected its payloads into a 450 km low Earth orbit.

This landmark mission is a game-changer for India, making it one of the top three countries globally with private orbital launch capabilities. India's rapidly growing commercial space industry and its ambitions in the global space race are now competing against SpaceX. Celebrating the successful launch, Skyroot's co-founder and CEO, Pawan Kumar Chandana, took the Prime Minister's personal congratulatory call. We bring you highlights.