WASHINGTON - Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket successfully lifted off on its inaugural flight July 18, becoming the first commercial Indian rocket to reach orbit. The rocket launched at 2:35 a.m. Eastern from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, after a 35-minute delay caused by a technical issue discovered at T-minus 5 minutes - because nothing says "confidence" like fixing a last-minute glitch in the dark.

The three solid-fuel stages performed flawlessly, deploying a liquid-propellant kick stage that fired for about six minutes. The upper stage reached its planned 450-kilometer low Earth orbit 15 minutes after liftoff. The mission, dubbed Mission Aagaman (Sanskrit for "arrival"), carried two cubesats - one from Skyroot and another from Indian startup Grahaa Space - plus hosted payloads from Dcubed and Cosmoserve Space, and miscellaneous items including postcards signed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nothing says space exploration like celebrity-signed postcards.

Skyroot's co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana admitted the company was cautiously optimistic, given the track record of first-flight failures. "We have done everything that could be done to test Vikram-1 on the ground," he said prelaunch. After reaching orbit, he was elated: "Absolutely no words." He called it a historic moment for Skyroot, India, and the global space sector, adding, "In the first attempt reaching orbit, I never thought it was possible."

Vikram-1 can place up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit, with an upgraded version, Vikram-1U, boosting that to 550 kilograms. The company plans up to two more Vikram-1 launches this year and raised $60 million in May to scale production and develop the larger Vikram-2. The success marks a milestone for India's commercial space industry, bolstered by government reforms and support from ISRO and IN-SPACe. Chandana concluded, "India is proud to be the fastest-growing space tech ecosystem in the world... It still feels like a dream."