Skyroot Aerospace to Ship Second Vikram-1 Rocket by End of November, Eyes Commercial Third Mission

Skyroot Aerospace plans to complete shipping its Vikram-1 rocket to Sriharikota for a second test flight by the end of November, with the third mission expected to go fully commercial, co-founder Naga Bharath Daka told The Times of India.

Skyroot's Second Vikram-1 Test Flight

Daka said the second test mission is targeted for December or early January. "From our third mission, we will go fully commercial," he said.

Skyroot Aerospace became the first Indian private firm to launch an indigenously built orbital-class rocket and place a satellite in orbit in July. Vikram-1 lifted off from Sriharikota on July 18 on Mission Aagaman and placed its payloads in a 450-km orbit, validating the company's carbon-composite structures, solid propulsion stages and 3D-printed engine technologies.

The second test-flight rocket is being built at the company's 2 lakh sq-ft Infinity Campus, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in November last year and which is designed to eventually support a launch cadence of one rocket a month. The first Vikram-1 was manufactured and shipped from Skyroot's MaxQ headquarters near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.

Skyroot flagged off the first-stage hardware of the next Vikram-1 to ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre towards the end of August. "Just 36 days since Vikram-1 launched, the hardware for our next launch is en route to the launch site," co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana said in a post on X at the time.

Skyroot's Funding and Valuation Records

Skyroot closed a $60 million pre-Series C round co-led by Sherpalo Ventures and GIC with BlackRock participation in May 2026 at a $1.1 billion pre-money valuation, according to akta.pro company records. The same records put total capital raised at $160 million and list 10 funding rounds, including a $10.6 million debt-funded round led by BlackRock in March 2026 and a $27 million Series C led by Temasek in October 2023.

Earlier Skyroot Launch Preparations

Skyroot shipped the first stage of its second Vikram-1 rocket to Sriharikota's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in August 2026, with remaining stages expected within months, The Times of India reported. India Today reported the same month that the first stage was already en route to the spaceport. Business Standard reported in October 2026 that Skyroot plans to begin full-fledged commercial launches in the first quarter of 2027, from the third launch onward, and targets a monthly cadence by the end of next year.

Skyroot's Commercial Launch Timeline

Business Standard reported that Skyroot holds agreements with Reflex Orbital and HEX20 and plans full-fledged commercial launches from the third mission onward, starting in the first quarter of 2027.