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हिन्दी — Read in HindiLaunch vehicles, satellites and applications
India's launch vehicles and satellites and what they are used for: Earth observation, communication and navigation, and the launches of each year. Prelims has asked about the orbits of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellites and the uses of Indian Remote Sensing satellites.
Foundation note: ISRO's launch vehicles and the orbits they serve
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2023: countries with their own satellite navigation system
- Prelims 2018: the orbits of the IRNSS satellites
- Prelims 2015: uses of Indian Remote Sensing satellites
Showing 2 of 4 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all
Vikram-1
Copy link to Vikram-1Prelims and Mains
LeadVikram-1: a private Indian rocket reaches orbitJuly 2026
Why in news
Vikram-1, built by Skyroot Aerospace of Hyderabad, lifted off from Sriharikota on 18 July 2026 and placed its payloads in low Earth orbit. It is the first privately built Indian rocket to reach orbit.
Background
- Until 2020 only the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) built and launched rockets in India.
- The space reforms of 2020 opened the sector to private firms and set up IN-SPACe to authorise and support them.
- A suborbital flight crosses into space and falls back. An orbital flight reaches the speed needed to stay in orbit, which is far harder.
- Earlier private flights, Skyroot's Vikram-S in 2022 and Agnikul's Agnibaan in 2024, were suborbital.
The rocket
- Vikram-1 is a four stage vehicle about 22 metres tall: three solid stages and a restartable liquid upper stage.
- It can place about 350 kg in low Earth orbit, which makes it a small satellite launch vehicle.
- Its airframe is carbon fibre composite, lighter than steel for the same strength.
- Its liquid engine is 3D printed as a single piece, which removes the joints and seals where engines leak.
The flight
- The mission, named Aagaman, placed six technology demonstration payloads in an orbit of about 450 km.
- India is the third country, after the United States and China, whose private industry has reached orbit.
- It was a developmental flight; two more are planned before commercial service.
Why it matters
- The reforms had so far produced private satellites and applications; this adds launch capability.
- Small satellites are the fastest growing part of the launch market, and a small rocket can launch them on demand.
- It widens India's launch capacity beyond ISRO's own vehicles, at a time when India flies few launches a year.
What remains
- A rocket becomes a business only with repeated, reliable flights.
- India has no space activities law yet, so liability for damage by a private launch rests on policy and not statute.
- Private firms still depend on ISRO's launch pads and test facilities.
The way forward
- Pass a space activities law that settles licensing, liability and insurance.
- Give private firms assured demand, through government launch contracts.
- Complete the handover of the Kulasekarapattinam small satellite launch complex to a private operator, and open test facilities on the same terms.
Prelims facts
- Vikram-1: Skyroot Aerospace, Hyderabad; four stages, three of them solid.
- Mission Aagaman; launched from the first launch pad at Sriharikota.
- Vikram-S (2022) and Agnibaan (2024) were suborbital.
- India is the third country with private orbital launch, after the United States and China.
Vikram-1 is a four stage launch vehicle about 22 metres tall, built by Skyroot Aerospace of Hyderabad, with three solid stages and a restartable liquid upper stage called the Orbital Adjustment Module. It can place about 350 kg in low Earth orbit, or about 290 kg in a 500 km sun synchronous orbit. Its airframe is carbon fibre composite and its liquid engine is 3D printed as a single piece, which removes the joints and seals where conventional engines leak. Skyroot's Vikram-S (2022) and Agnikul's Agnibaan (2024) were suborbital flights, which cross into space without reaching the speed needed to stay in orbit.
What changed
18 Jul 2026LeadVikram-1: a private Indian rocket reaches orbit
Also filed elsewhere
- India's first commercial Earth observation constellation · on Space policy, private sector and governance
India's first fully commercial Earth observation constellation is a set of twelve satellites to be built, owned and operated by a private consortium by 2029 under IN-SPACe authorisation.
- Indian Space Policy 2023 · on Space policy, private sector and governance
The Indian Space Policy 2023 divides India's space work four ways and opens every activity, from building satellites to running launch sites, to non governmental entities.