'We were fixated on not failing': Skyroot's long road to orbit

With that, the eight-year-old, Hyderabad-based startup built by two IITians and ex-Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) employees created history by becoming the first ever private space startup to launch a rocket from Indian soil.

One key reason why Chandana and his co-founder Naga Bharath Daka, the chief operating officer, remain focussed on accuracy rather than speed of developments is access to capital.

“Of course capital is one consideration. We didn’t want to lose too much and tried to maximize what we had. The bigger thing, however, was of course to set a precedent,” he said.

Asked if the strategy of patience is one that he and Daka picked from their Isro days, Chandana said, while the agency did give valuable experience of working on a rocket , “the private sector is different, and there’s no past history of a success formula. So, you pretty much go from scratch.” Chandana was one of Isro’s propulsion engineers on the GSLV-Mk.III rocket.

Growth story

The success of Skyroot’s launch did not come overnight.

On 21 November 2022, Chandana had told Mint that the startup hoped for a launch by 2024, and by the end of 2025, conduct two commercial launches per month. On 18 November 2022, Skyroot become the first private startup from India to ever launch a rocket, Vikram-S, from domestic soil, albeit a sub-orbital, trial one.

Industry stakeholders said the floodgates may open now.

“Skyroot will have many commercial international clients sitting on the fence awaiting its first success," said Chaitanya Giri, space fellow at global think tank, Observer Research Foundation. "With SpaceX having announced the intent to pull back from small satellite launches by 2028, we may expect multiple commercial announcements from Skyroot in the next few months.”

Vishesh Rajaram, founding partner at deep-tech investor Speciale Invest, which has invested in six space startups so far, said Skyroot's feat helped India prove private sector credibility. “The sector is likely to attract greater interest from global investors, including sovereign wealth funds and US- and Europe-based crossover funds, particularly toward more mature companies.”

Skyroot’s Vikram-1, named after Vikram Sarabhai, the founding chairman of Isro, is a lightweight rocket that can carry satellites of up to 350 kg to low-earth orbits of up to 500 km in altitude.

Chandana said Skyroot will target a second Vikram-1 launch mission “by the end of the year, and a Vikram-2 launch by the end of next year, along with multiple Vikram-1 launches too.”

India's space startup sector has 253 private companies that raised $197 million in private capital last year, as per Tracxn data.

Since its inception, Skyroot has so far raised nearly $160 million, and the company may raise more to validate its second rocket, Vikram-2. Chandana, however, said his company does not have any fundraising plan for the coming months.

As of FY25 end, the two founders owned nearly 26% of the company. Singapore sovereign fund GIC held 31%, while homegrown energy group Greenko held 16.6%. Early Google investor Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures joined the cap table in June this year.

Chandana epects a spate of deals from the government. “The Centre already has the space-based surveillance project that will need domestic rocket capacity, as will the public-private project of earth observation satellites by In-Space. In the coming quarters, we should see multiple such government procurement projects,” he added.

Global demand is plentiful too.

Ankit Anand, founding partner at early-stage VC firm Riceberg Ventures, said startups across the deep-tech investor’s portfolio face “difficulty of accessing launch opportunities”.

“SpaceX's availability has become very limited. That is where Skyroot has an opportunity to become an important launch partner, not only for India but for the global startup ecosystem," Anand said. Riceberg Ventures has invested in space startups Manastu Space and EtherealX.

Narayan Prasad Nagendra, chief operations officer at global space marketplace SatSearch, said Skyroot’s ability to serve global demand will depend on how well and how fast it can prove its next rocket. “Vikram-2 will not just be a heavier, larger rocket, it will also have liquid propulsion. All of this will need Skyroot to validate its technologies, which takes its own time. At the same time, the job with Vikram-1 now is to optimize and improve its systems, which is crucial to make the rocket efficient and reliable for future commercial launches.”

On domestic competition for Skyroot, ORF’s Giri said: “We now have Skyroot’s Vikram-1, the Hindustan Aeronautics-made SSLV, and Agnikul Cosmos’s SOrTeD or SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator rockets—all roughly at the same spot, vying for the same target client. It remains to be seen how the commercials are split among them,” he said.

Agnikul, an IIT Madras-incubated startup and Skyroot’s top rival, is “expected to do its first commercial launch late this year or early next year,” said Satya Chakravarthy, professor of aerospace engineering at IIT Madras and cofounder of Agnikul Cosmos.