PM Modi inaugurates Skyroot's facility in Hyderabad, unveils orbital rocket Vikram-I

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually inaugurated Indian space startup Skyroot's Infinity Campus, here, and highlighted the government's 'historic' space reforms.

He also unveiled the company's first orbital rocket, Vikram-I which has capability to launch satellites to orbit.

In his address, the PM pointed out at the government's 'historic' space reforms and said that opening up the space sector to private players has resulted in Skyroot and others coming up with such innovations.

The PM said that today in India's space ecosystem, private sector was emerging with flying colours. Over 300 space startups were giving new hopes to the sector.

"The Infinity Campus is a reflection of India's new thought, innovation and the the bigger youth power. Youth's innovation, risk taking ability and entrepreneurship are touching new heights," the PM noted.

Today, the country's space sector was becoming attractive for global investors. India's private space talent was making its own identity across the globe.

He traced the journey of the Indian space programme from its nascent stages-- where rocket parts were moved in a bicycle, to building the "most trusted launch vehicle." The journey might have started with limited resources but the growth proved determination decides dreams, Modi said.

In these changing times, space sector is expanding so much, covering the areas of communication, weather prediction, urban planning and national security, among others.

"So that is why we have made historic reforms in space sector, opened it up to the private sector, made new space policy. Startups and industry were linked with innovation, set up In-Space," he said.

He further said plans were there to open up the nuclear sector also to private players.

Skyroot's state-of-the-art facility will have around two lakh sq.ft. workspace for designing, developing, integrating and testing multiple launch vehicles, with a capacity to build one orbital rocket every month.

Skyroot is India's leading private space company, founded by Pawan Chandana and Bharath Dhaka, both IIT alumni and former scientists of ISRO.

In November 2022, Skyroot launched its sub-orbital rocket, Vikram-S, becoming the first Indian private company to do so.

The rapid rise of private space enterprises is a testament to the success of the transformative reforms carried out by the NDA Government in the last few years, reinforcing India's leadership as a confident and capable global space power, an official release had earlier said.