Hyderabad, July 17 — Among the most closely watched private space ventures in India is one that has yet to reach orbit but has already drawn tens of millions in investment. Skyroot Aerospace, co-founded in 2018, aims to serve the global small-satellite market with its Vikram-1 rocket.
The company’s progress reflects a broader shift in India’s space sector, where government monopoly is giving way to private competition. At the helm is Pawan Kumar Chandana, a 34-year-old engineer whose career began not in the private sector but inside India’s staid space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation.
A Career Forged at ISRO
Chandana was born in Hyderabad in 1990. He earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in 2012 and joined ISRO that same year.
Over the next six years, he contributed to the design of the GSLV Mk III launch vehicle and worked on the Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission. It was a formative period that gave him direct experience with large-scale rocket development. In 2018, Chandana left ISRO to co-found Skyroot Aerospace with Naga Bharath Daka.
The company set out to build private rockets for the small satellite launch market, a sector that was just opening up in India after the government allowed private players into space activities. The timing proved advantageous.
In 2020, India introduced reforms that permitted private companies to use certain government facilities, creating a regulatory framework managed by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre. Skyroot, which began with a team of just ten people, grew amid this support. Early development focused on lowering production times and costs through the use of 3D printing and carbon-composite structures.
In 2022, the company became the first private Indian firm to launch a suborbital rocket, using government infrastructure at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre to reach a high altitude.
Building a Private Launch Business
Skyroot’s flagship vehicle is the Vikram-1 rocket, designed to carry payloads into orbit. Under Chandana’s leadership, the company has raised approximately $95 million in funding — a significant sum for an Indian space startup. In 2024, the World Economic Forum named Chandana a Young Global Leader, an honor that recognizes individuals under 40 who are shaping the future.
Despite these achievements, Skyroot has not yet launched its first orbital mission. The Vikram-1 remains in development, and the company continues to work toward that milestone.
The next few years will determine whether Chandana can translate his ISRO experience into a viable private business that delivers satellites to space reliably. The broader context underscores what is at stake. Skyroot is one of several Indian private aerospace manufacturers emerging as commercial launch service providers.
The progress of such firms signals a change in how India accesses space: private players are now moving from government incubation to building their own manufacturing and testing facilities. Success in this sector means more competition and lower costs for deploying satellites, not only for Indian customers but for the global small-satellite market.
For now, Chandana steers a company that has raised tens of millions of dollars but has yet to prove its orbital capability. The coming years will reveal whether the young engineer from Hyderabad can turn that promise into a reliable business.
