New Delhi: India’s first private rocket, Vikram-1, is set to take off with handwritten messages from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former ISRO chairman S Somanath, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and other well-wishers of Skyroot Aerospace.
Scheduled to launch on 18 July at 11:30 AM from ISRO’s Sriharikota launch pad, Vikram-1 marks the first orbital mission by a private sector rocket in the country. Earlier launches have all been on ISRO’s vehicles, such as the PSLV or the GSLV. Vikram-1 is a four-stage, seven-storey-tall rocket that is carrying both domestic and foreign payloads worth 350 kgs to the Low-Earth Orbit.
In a post shared on X on Friday morning, Skyroot, the company launching the rocket, said that handwritten messages from its well-wishers and team members will be travelling to space.
“Among the payloads on Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 is something truly special—a handwritten postcard from Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri with the words, ‘Vande Mataram’,” the post read.
Among the payloads on Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 is something truly special—a handwritten postcard from Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi with the words, “Vande Mataram.” 🇮🇳🚀
It travels to space alongside handwritten messages from our team, investors, policymakers, and… pic.twitter.com/sJajN6NiVJ
— Skyroot Aerospace (@SkyrootA) July 17, 2026
Skyroot Aerospace is a Hyderabad-based space tech start-up. In May 2026, it became the first Indian space-tech unicorn, valued at $1.2 billion. It had earlier launched the Vikram-S mission in 2022, which was a suborbital flight to demonstrate the capability to reach space. However, while Vikram-S just reached the Karman line, i.e. 100 kms above sea level, the latest rocket is actually going to enter the LEO, carrying satellites and other payloads with it.
Additionally, Vikram-1’s design and manufacturing have been entirely indigenous, at Skyroot’s four main campuses in Hyderabad. Their latest Infinity campus, which has the capacity to manufacture one rocket a month, was inaugurated virtually by Modi in November 2025.
“Eight years ago, Skyroot Aerospace started with just two people with an idea. Today, India’s first privately developed orbital rocket stands on the launch pad, ready for lift-off,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot, in a post on X.
Chandana and his co-founder, Naga Bharath Daka, are former ISRO engineers who decided to found the company in 2018, before India’s official Space Policy was launched, which allowed private companies to enter the space industry.
Vikram-1 is their first four-stage launch vehicle, and after the test flight on Saturday, the company aims to carry out 2-3 other flights this year to ensure all systems are working and in place.
The company also has the Vikram-2 rocket on the way, which is of a similar design to Vikram-1 but is built to carry bigger satellite payloads.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)