PM Modi unveils country’s 1st pvt orbital rocket at Hyd event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled space startup Skyroot Aerospace's first orbital rocket and inaugurated the company's new facility in Hyderabad at an event during which he also praised Generation Z professionals for driving India's private space revolution.

- Snehal Fernandes

Modi unveiled the Vikram-I and opened Skyroot's 200,000-square-foot Infinity Campus via videoconference, saying the private sector is making great strides in India's space ecosystem.

"Skyroot's Infinity Campus reflects India's new thinking, innovation and, most importantly, youth power," Modi said. "In the future, India will emerge as a leader in the global satellite launch ecosystem."

The PM said the space sector has become crucial for communication, agriculture, marine monitoring, urban planning, weather prediction and national security. He credited his government's reforms with attracting young entrepreneurs to the sector, noting that more than 300 space startups now operate in India. Modi said he has met regularly with space startups over the past five to six years, finding small teams with limited resources but soaring ambitions. "It's this spirit that has given birth to the private space revolution in India," he said.