Skyroot, co‑founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana, is developing a small launch vehicle named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme. The rocket can carry payloads up to 350 kg, offering dedicated missions that aim to eliminate the long waits satellite operators currently face for launch slots.
Instead of sharing space on large, scheduled rockets, customers can book a tailored launch akin to a “cab service” for space, enabling precise delivery to the required orbit.
“Our approach is like taking an Uber to a friend’s house rather than waiting for a train,” Chandana explained. “We want to provide a cab service to space that can place a satellite or reach a station at any desired location.”
If successful, the model mirrors that of Rocket Lab, a U.S. provider of small‑lift launch vehicles.
The first test launch, named Aagman (Sanskrit for “arrival”), is planned to place six payloads into orbit. These include scientific instruments such as a robotic arm for space‑debris removal, an Earth‑observation camera, and a satellite built by a German company.
Two symbolic payloads have attracted attention across India: a lotus crafted from lab‑grown diamonds, known as Cosmic Bloom, created by Cosmos Diamonds, and a tiny gold rocket bearing micro‑sculptures of three celebrated Indian scientists – Nobel laureate physicist C.V. Raman, aerospace engineer and former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and Vikram Sarabhai.
Each sculpture, smaller than a grain of rice, honors the legacy of these pioneers who shaped India’s space programme. “We stand on the shoulders of our early visionaries,” Chandana said, explaining that the diamond lotus serves as an artistic tribute to space and celebrates Indian creativity, echoing the sentiment of “like a diamond in the sky” from the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle.”