India successfully launches nation's first private orbital rocket

India's Skyroot Aerospace on Saturday launched the country's first privately developed orbital rocket, a key test of national efforts to compete for a bigger share of the global commercial launch market.The Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 12:05pm local time, leaving behind a plume of fire and smoke, carrying several customer payloads and in-orbit experiments on its maiden orbital mission, dubbed "Mission Aagaman".The rocket took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. (Reuters: Priyanshu Singh)It successfully injected its payload into a 450km orbit about 15 minutes later, making India the third country to achieve orbital launch capability through private enterprise."Hello space, we have arrived!" Skyroot Aerospace said in a post on X."Vikram-1's Test Flight-1 has completed its mission."The mission is intended to validate the rocket's propulsion, avionics, telemetry, guidance, navigation and control systems in flight while collecting data for future commercial launches, Skyroot said."Mission Aagaman is a grand success," the company said in a statement."This is a test flight. We will be doing a few of these before we move into routine commercial flights," it added.Founded in 2018, Skyroot is among a new generation of Indian space startups that have attracted backing from global investors following the sector's liberalisation.The Indian mission comes amid intensifying competition in the global small satellite launch market, where startups are seeking to challenge incumbents led by Elon Musk's SpaceX.Governments across Europe and Asia have also stepped up support for domestic launch companies to secure independent access to space as commercial and defence demand accelerates.Standing about 22 metres tall, Vikram-1 is designed to carry payloads of up to 350kg into low-Earth orbit.Vikram-1 was displayed at the campus of Skyroot Aerospace last year. (Reuters: Priyanshu Singh)The launch vehicle uses three solid-fuel stages and a liquid-fuel orbital adjustment module powered by a 3D-printed engine, technologies the company says are being flown for the first time in India.The rocket is carrying several experimental and customer payloads from Indian and overseas organisations, including technology demonstration satellites and in-orbit experiments.India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the endeavour as "a defining moment in India's space journey"."The growing participation of our private sector is opening new frontiers and accelerating innovation," Mr Modi said."This achievement will encourage countless youngsters to dream bigger and innovate fearlessly."The launch follows the Hyderabad-based company's Vikram-S mission in 2022, which became the first privately developed rocket to reach space from Indian soil on a suborbital flightIndia opened its space sector to private investment in 2020, allowing startups to build rockets, satellites and launch services, activities that were for decades provided by the government's Indian Space Research Organisation.Reuters/AFP