India's Skyroot Aerospace orbital rocket Vikram-1 blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on July 18, 2026. (Photo by R. Satish BABU / AFP)
Sriharikota, India: India's first privately built orbital rocket took its maiden flight on Saturday, its builder said, marking a significant step for the South Asian giant as it eyes a bigger slice of the global space economy.
"Hello space, we have arrived!" Skyroot Aerospace said in a post on X. "Vikram-1's Test Flight-1 has completed its mission. The first ever Indian private sector launch has been successfully completed."
