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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan on Saturday congratulated Skyroot Aerospace after its Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 successfully reached orbit, describing it as a major milestone for India's private space sector.
Narayanan said the successful mission marked the first time an Indian private rocket had been placed in orbit. "This is the first successful attempt by an Indian private rocket to reach orbit. First of all, I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. He credited the 2020 space sector reforms for enabling greater private participation and said the achievement reflected the success of those policy initiatives. "The space sector reforms announced in 2020 have made this possible. The Prime Minister has always guided us, and I thank him for his support," he said. Congratulating the Skyroot Aerospace team, Narayanan said the company and its employees deserved appreciation for the achievement. He also acknowledged the role of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) for facilitating private participation in the sector and thanked the ISRO team for its support. "When private participation in the space sector began, we had only one startup. Today, we have more than 400 space startups. This is just the beginning under the leadership of our Prime Minister as we move towards making India a developed nation," Narayanan said. IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan K Goenka also announced the successful completion of the first launch by an Indian private-sector rocket, saying Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 exceeded its mission objectives by successfully reaching orbit. "I am privileged to formally announce that the first-ever Indian private-sector launch has been successfully completed. Not only did Vikram-1 meet its mission objective, which was simply to clear the tower, it went all the way up to a 453-km orbit, successfully completed all the tasks, and achieved something well beyond expectations," Goenka said. (ANI)
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