Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually unveil spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace’s first orbital rocket, Vikram I, on November 27. The Prime Minister’s Office said he will also virtually inaugurate the company’s new Infinity Campus in Hyderabad. The facility spans two lakh square feet and will be used for designing, developing, integrating and testing multiple launch vehicles. According to the statement, the new campus will have the capability to build one orbital rocket every month.
Skyroot Aerospace was founded in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka. The company has developed a modular space launch vehicle designed for the small satellite market. Modular vehicles allow components to be interchanged depending on mission and payload requirements. The startup also says it was the first private company in South Asia to launch a rocket into space. It successfully launched its vehicle Vikram S in 2022 and is now preparing to launch Vikram I, its maiden orbital class rocket capable of placing satellites into orbit.
Data indicates that Skyroot has raised more than 95 million dollars in funding so far. Its investors include WorldQuant Ventures, Graph Ventures and Meraki Labs. The company last raised 51 million dollars in a Series B round led by Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC in 2022.
The unveiling comes five months after Skyroot signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States based spacetech company Axiom Space. The collaboration aims to advance space exploration and increase access to low earth orbit.
The development arrives at a time when India’s spacetech sector is expanding rapidly due to rising private investment, supportive government policies, the liberalisation of the space sector in 2023 and emerging applications. Recently, SIDBI Venture Capital announced the first close of its spacetech focused Antariksh Venture Capital Fund at Rs 1005 crore. In August, the Prime Minister encouraged the spacetech industry to produce five unicorns in the next five years and scale rocket launches to 50 per year.
Hundreds of domestic startups have now emerged across the space value chain, creating reusable rockets, satellites and data analytics solutions. These companies have raised substantial funding and serve major clients. India’s growing spacetech economy is projected to reach a value of 77 billion dollars by 2030.
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