Hyderabad, August 8, 2025 — Skyroot Aerospace on Friday achieved a significant milestone in India’s private space sector by successfully static test firing the first stage of its maiden orbital launch vehicle, Vikram-1, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.
The 30-ton carbon composite solid fuel booster, named Kalam-1200 after former President and rocket scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, is the largest monolithic solid rocket motor ever developed in the country’s private space industry. The test, conducted under the aegis of ISRO, validated its ballistic performance, burn rate, thermal protection system, and the composite flex nozzle steering mechanism — all critical for Vikram-1’s targeted maiden flight later this year.
At 11 meters long, Kalam-1200 can generate nearly 1,200 kN of peak vacuum thrust—“nearly ten times as much as that of an engine on a Boeing 737 Max,” according to Skyroot. During the flight, the stage will lift Vikram-1 to an altitude of over 50 kilometers before an advanced pneumatic system enables stage separation, allowing the upper stages to carry payloads into Earth orbit.
Co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana described the moment as “an exhilarating yet humbling experience. It is the culmination of years of hard engineering by the young team at Skyroot… a shining example of how ISRO’s state-of-the-art facilities and IN-SPACe’s active support can enable cutting-edge technology development in the private space sector.”
Skyroot Co-founder and COO Naga Bharath Daka called the static test “one of the most crucial milestones in preparing for a rocket launch… validating the entire stage as an integrated system — from propulsion performance and flex-nozzle actuation to thermal protection and structural integrity.”
Congratulating the team, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe, posted on X: “This is a landmark achievement and readies Skyroot to create history with the orbital launch.“
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Hyderabad, Skyroot Aerospace previously made history in 2022 with Vikram-S — India’s first privately developed rocket to reach space. Backed by investors including GIC and Temasek, the company is now poised to become the first Indian private firm to place a rocket into orbit, offering on-demand launches for small satellite operators worldwide.
With the Kalam-1200 now successfully tested, the countdown to Vikram-1’s maiden flight has effectively begun.
