Prime Minister Narendra Modi today virtually inaugurated Skyroot Aerospace’s state-of-the-art Infinity Campus in Hyderabad and unveiled India’s first privately developed orbital rocket, Vikram-I, capable of placing satellites into orbit.
Addressing the event, the Prime Minister hailed the achievement as a landmark moment in India’s private space revolution. “When the government opened the space sector, our youth and especially Gen Z came forward to make the most of the opportunity,” PM Modi said, praising the daring entrepreneurship of Skyroot co-founders Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka — both former ISRO scientists and IIT alumni.
The Prime Minister described Skyroot’s 200,000 sq ft Infinity Campus as a symbol of India’s new thinking and youth power, with the capacity to manufacture one orbital rocket every month. He congratulated the founders, calling them an inspiration for thousands of young space entrepreneurs across the country.
Recalling India’s journey from carrying rocket parts on bicycles to building the world’s most reliable launch vehicles, PM Modi said ISRO’s decades-long credibility has now been complemented by an open, cooperative and innovation-driven ecosystem created through reforms in the last six to seven years. The establishment of IN-SPACe and the new Space Policy has enabled over 300 space startups to emerge, most started by small teams with big dreams.
“India possesses space capabilities that only a few nations in the world have — expert engineers, cost-effective and reliable launches, world-class infrastructure, and a mindset that encourages innovation,” the Prime Minister asserted, adding that global companies now want to manufacture satellites in India and avail Indian launch services.
PM Modi linked the space sector boom to India’s broader startup revolution, noting that the country is now the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem with over 1.5 lakh registered startups and many unicorns. He also announced that, just as the space sector was opened, the nuclear energy sector is now being opened to greater private participation, especially in small modular reactors and advanced technologies.
Reiterating his Space Day vision, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that India will significantly enhance its launch capacity and create five new space unicorns within the next five years. “The progress of teams like Skyroot makes it certain that we will achieve every goal we have set,” he said.
Union Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy and other dignitaries attended the event in Hyderabad.
Skyroot made history in November 2022 as the first Indian private company to launch a rocket (Vikram-S) into space. With Vikram-I, India’s first private rocket to reach orbit, marked a giant leap for the country’s fast-growing commercial space industry.
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