Skyroute rocket launched into civilian orbit by India along with US and China

Hello, this is Priyanka Salve writing from Singapore.

Welcome to the latest edition of Inside India. A one-stop destination for stories and developments in the world’s fastest growing large economy.

On Saturday, Indian space technology startup Skyroute successfully test-launched a low-Earth orbit rocket carrying a 350 kilogram payload, marking its entry into the global satellite launch market dominated by US and Chinese companies. I spoke to Skyroot’s co-founder to find out what’s next for the country’s first space technology unicorn.

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The demand for satellite launches is growing globally, as only a handful of rocket companies have the ability to make deliveries into space. Naga Bharath Dhaka, co-founder of Indian space technology startup Skyroute, who recently joined the elite space club, is determined to take advantage of this opportunity.

Skyroute plans to begin commercial operations in 2027 and launch “one flight per month,” he told CNBC, adding that the launches would be commercialized after one more test flight later this year.

“Even before economies of scale kick in, we will be the most cost-competitive launch vehicle in this space (with small payloads),” Daka said.

Cost competitiveness is a hallmark of Indian space technology. In the past, the Indian Space Research Organization, a national agency, has carried out missions to Mars and the moon at a fraction of the cost spent by Western countries. Sykroot’s founders, Daka and Pawan Kumar Chandana, are both former employees of ISRO.

Referring to Elon Musk, space xDaka said the company follows a strategy of “fail smarter and grow faster,” which leads to rapid advances in technology but “burns a lot of cash.” “You had to be very careful with money” and the emphasis was on “doing things right the first time.”

At 11:30 a.m. Indian Standard Time on Saturday, Skyroute successfully launched a test rocket carrying a 350 kg payload into low orbit, becoming the first private Indian company with orbital space launch capability, joining the league of China and the US.

Skyroot plans to compete with US-based startups in the sub-1,000 kg market. rocket lab, firefly aerospaceAstra Space and Chinese private companies i Space, Galactic Energy and CAS Space, according to data shared by market intelligence firm Analysis Mason.

Small launch vehicles solve important operational, strategic, and financial bottlenecks that cannot be addressed by large “bus lines” to space (think large payload carriers like SpaceX).

“Small rockets act like on-demand taxis in orbit,” explains Ujjwal Chowdhury, a partner at Analysis Mason.

He said it delivers a single customer’s payload directly to a precise location in space, unlike larger launch vehicles, where the satellite operator uses internal fuel and time to maneuver the payload to a precise location and then drop the payload at an approximate location.

These rockets have dedicated launch windows, so small satellites don’t have to wait to “share” with larger satellite launches.

According to Analysis Mason, the market size in 2025 was only $5 billion, but the number of companies operating in this field is decreasing, and the release schedule is being booked for one to two years. California-based Rocket Lab announced in May that its order backlog had more than doubled to $2.2 billion from a year ago, with launches booked through 2029.

The company has a market capitalization of more than $43 billion, compared to Skyroot’s valuation of $1.1 billion when it raised $60 million in May.

The Indian space technology startup has raised just $150 million since its founding in 2018, but Dhaka told CNBC that the company is “well-funded” to make commercial launches next year. He said the company would raise the money as it ramps up efforts to develop reusable rockets, adding that is not its immediate plan.

U.S. companies have strong sources of private market funding for space technology startups, while Chinese companies receive government support, experts say. Meanwhile, Indian companies in this sector are struggling to raise funds.

“The pool of patient funding for space technology in India is still shallow relative to the opportunity,” said Natasha Malpani Oswal, founder and general partner of venture capital firm Boundless Ventures.

He said the backing of Skyroute by sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors such as BlackRock and GIC shows that capital is coming in at a later stage in a big way, adding: “It’s recent and it’s not a pattern yet.”

Investors will be more willing to put money into space if Skyroute’s low-cost structure allows it to deliver strong returns even as global peers burn cash.

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