Vikram-1 launch: A new golden chapter has been added in India’s space history. The country’s first privately developed orbital rocket Vikram-1 successfully took off from Sriharikota and placed all its payloads in a 450 km high orbit. After this historic achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called and congratulated the team of Skyroot Aerospace and called it a big success for India’s growing space sector. With the success of Vikram-1, India has become the third country in the world to achieve the feat of launching an orbital rocket with the help of the private sector.

Congratulations to #SkyrootAerospace on the successful launch of #Vikram1India’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle.

The mission marks a major milestone for India’s expanding private space sector and reflects the nation’s growing capabilities in space technology… pic.twitter.com/JG5ShOJvFO

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) July 18, 2026

Know what PM Modi said?

After watching the successful launch of Vikram-1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Skyroot Aerospace founder Pawan Chandna, Naga Bharat Daka and the entire team. He said that this success will inspire the youth of the country to dream big and move forward in the field of science and space.

The Prime Minister said, “Many congratulations to Pawan, Bharat and the entire team. This achievement of yours will become an inspiration for the youth of the country. I saw the entire launch program today. Your entire team is very young and this is India’s biggest strength.” Modi also said that when the central government had decided to open India’s space sector to private companies, many people had raised questions on it. But the success of Vikram-1 has proved that this decision was right and now India’s private space sector is also making its strong identity in the world.

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Why is the launch of Vikram-1 special?

Till now the responsibility of developing and launching orbital rockets in India has mainly rested with ISRO. If Vikram-1 successfully reaches orbit, Skyroot:

-Will be the first private company in India to launch an orbital rocket.
-Will be included among the few private space companies in the world which have achieved this feat.
Even today, very few private companies in the whole world have been successful in launching orbital launches.

Also read- India’s private space sector’s biggest flight, Vikram-1 will create history today; Know why this mission is special

The journey started from 2022

Skyroot launched a sub-orbital rocket named Vikram-S in November 2022. That mission named ‘Prarambh’ made Skyroot India’s first private rocket launching company. Now Vikram-1 is a much more challenging mission because its aim is to reach the Earth’s orbit.