Vikram-1 aims higher after Vikram-S: What is Mission Aagaman set for launch as early as July 12

India’s first private orbital rocket is ready for launch. The startup behind the Vikram-1 test flight, Skyroot Aerospace, announced that Mission Aagaman will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, anytime between July 12 and August 4, 2026.

The exact launch date has not yet been confirmed. "The countdown to a new chapter in Indian spaceflight begins," the company announced on X on Thursday, July 2.

Vikram-1, expected to lift off as early as July 12, follows the successful Vikram-S launch in November 2022, taking Skyroot's ambitions from suborbital to orbital missions.

The launch comes as India opens its state-dominated space sector ​to private companies, seeking a bigger share ​of ⁠the global market for satellite launches and related services.

What is Vikram-1?

Vikram-1 is a rocket built by Skyroot Aerospace — a private company based in Hyderabad. It's a ⁠multi-stage launch vehicle and is designed to carry payloads of up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit.

The team behind the mission said Vikram-1 is nearly as tall as a seven-storey building.

"Getting something that size to orbit demands precision engineering at every stage of the climb, as much as it demands raw power," the company said.

It added that Vikram-1 had to be "big enough to carry the fuel to reach orbit, and smart enough to shed that weight along the way."

The Vikram-1 vehicle stands more than three times taller than the Vikram-S vehicle (launched on November 2022) and is composed of three solid rocket fuel stages.

It is intended to put nearly half a metric ton of payload into low-Earth orbit. The structure is largely manufactured from carbon composites, Ars Technica reported.

Vikram-1 was flagged off from Hyderabad on April 25 by Chief Minister of Telangana, A. Revanth Reddy Garu, from the company's Max-Q campus in Hyderabad, marking the completion of the pre-flight integrated test campaign.

Vikram-S vs Vikram-1: What's the difference?

Vikram-S and Vikram-1 are different rockets developed by the Hyderabad-based space startup. Vikram-S was the "suborbital version" of the rocket, while Vikram-1 is the "orbital" version.

Vikram-1 is an "orbital" rocket -- different from Vikram-S which was launched as part of Mission Prarambh in November 22. Vikram-S' launch had marked the first launch of a rocket built by an Indian private company.

The Vikram-1 'orbital' test flight will take a significant leap forward in technology.

"For India, this is the first time a privately designed, developed, and manufactured orbital rocket has been stacked on this pad [First Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota]," the company said in another post on X.

Skyroot Aerospace says that Vikram-S proved that a private Indian company could build and launch a rocket to space. But suborbital and orbital are entirely different problems.

It explained that getting to orbit means building a rocket that can not just carry satellites, but also place them precisely in the orbit around Earth.

"We started with a conviction: satellite operators worldwide deserve reliable, affordable, dedicated access to orbit. Vikram-S proved the technology in 2022. Vikram-1 takes it to orbit,' the company said.

What's in the name?

Skyroot named its initial line of vehicles “Vikram” in honor of the Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai, who is considered the father of the Indian Space Program.

As a testbed for its technology, Skyroot worked on a suborbital version of its rocket, Vikram-S, from 2020 to 2022 and launched the 6-meter rocket in November of that year.

"You name something 'one' when you know it's not going to be the last...With 'S', it was about starting small and suborbital, like going from zero to one; and 'one', that's the start of something infinite," said Naga Bharath Daka, the co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace.

'Kalam-250' and 'Kalam-100'

The first three stages of Vikram-1 use solid propulsion motors named after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Kalam-250 is Vikram-1 orbital launch vehicle's Stage 2, which is now fully integrated inside SHAR, Sriharikota. Flex nozzle, actuators, and Interstages 1_2L & 1_2U mounted and assembled.

The third stage of Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 orbital rocket is named Kalam-100. The stage produces a peak vacuum thrust of 100 kN (or ~10Tons), and has a burn time of 108 sec.

'$60 million'

Ahead of the launch, Skyroot Aerospace said it raised $60 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion. "This capital will go toward scaling launch cadence for Vikram-1, expanding manufacturing, and developing Vikram-2 — a 1-tonne class vehicle with an advanced cryogenic upper stage," it said in May this year.