Skyroot Rocket Launch Propels India Into Private Orbital Race With U.S. and China

Hello, Priyanka Salve here, reporting from Singapore.

Welcome to the newest edition of “Inside India“ — your essential briefing on the stories, trends and breakthroughs shaping the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

On Saturday, Indian space-tech startup Skyroot completed a successful test launch of a low-orbit rocket carrying a 350-kilogram payload, a milestone that pushes the company into the global satellite launch arena long led by U.S. and Chinese players. I spoke with Skyroot’s co-founder about the road ahead for India’s first space-tech unicorn.

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Global demand for satellite launches is accelerating, but only a limited number of rocket companies have the technical capacity to deliver payloads into space. Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder of Indian space-tech startup Skyroot, which has now joined that select group, says the company is preparing to seize the opening.

Skyroot is set to begin commercial operations in 2027, with ambitions to launch “one flight every month,” Daka told CNBC. The company plans one additional test flight later this year before moving into commercial launches.

“We will be the most cost-competitive launch vehicle in this space [small payload], even before the economies of scale come into play,” Daka said.

That focus on affordability reflects a broader strength of India’s space sector. The Indian Space Research Organization, the country’s state-run space agency, has previously carried out Mars and Moon missions at costs far below those of many Western programs. Skyroot’s founders, Daka and Pawan Kumar Chandana, both previously worked at ISRO.

Referring to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Daka said the company follows a “fail smarter and grow faster” strategy, which leads to rapid technological progress but it “burns a lot of cash.” “We had to be ultra cautious with money,” and the focus was on getting “the first time right.”

On Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Indian Standard Time, Skyroot successfully launched a test rocket carrying a 350-kilogram payload into low orbit, making it the first Indian private company with orbital space launch capability, and joining the league of China and the U.S.

Skyroot will compete in the sub-1,000 kg market with U.S. based startups such as Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace, Astra Space, and Chinese private firms i-Space, Galactic Energy, CAS Space, as per data shared by market intelligence firm Analysys Mason.

Small launchers solve critical operational, strategic, and financial bottlenecks that large “bus lines” to space — think bigger payload carriers like SpaceX — cannot handle.

“A small rocket acts like an orbit-on-demand taxi,” explains Ujjwal Chaudhry, a partner at Analysys Mason.

They deliver a single customer’s payload directly to its precise location in space, unlike with big launchers that drop payloads in approximate positions from where satellite operators maneuver them into the exact position using internal fuel and time, he said.

These rockets offer a dedicated launch window, so small satellites do not have to wait for “ridesharing” with larger satellite launches.

Though the market size was just $5 billion in 2025, according to Analysys Mason, fewer companies operating in this space are leading to launch schedules being booked for a year or two ahead. In May, California-based Rocket Labs said its order backlog more than doubled from a year ago to $2.2 billion with launches booked through to 2029.

The company has a market cap of over $43 billion, as compared to Skyroot’s $1.1 billion valuation during its $60 million fundraise in May.

Since its founding in 2018, the Indian space tech startup has raised just $150 million, and Daka told CNBC the company is “well-funded” to carry out commercial launches next year. The company will raise funds when it intensifies efforts to develop a reusable rocket, he said, adding that it is not an immediate plan.

While firms in the U.S. have a robust private market funding stream for space tech startups, Chinese companies are backed by the government, experts pointed out. Meanwhile, Indian companies in this sector struggle to raise funds.

“The patient capital pool for space tech in India is still shallow relative to the opportunity,” said Natasha Malpani Oswal, founder and general partner, at venture capital firm Boundless Ventures.

Sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors such as BlackRock and GIC backing Skyroot is a signal that capital is finding its way in at scale at the later stages, she said, adding that it “is recent, and it is not yet a pattern.”

Investors will likely be more open to putting their money in the space sector, if Skyroot’s low-cost structure helps it deliver high profits, even as its global peers burn cash.

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