India's First Private Orbital Rocket Launches

Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched Vikram-1, the country's first privately developed orbital-class rocket, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Saturday.

The seven-storey-tall, multi-stage launch vehicle placed six payloads into low-Earth orbit, including four technology demonstration satellites.

The launch, named Mission Aagaman, was put on a planned hold five minutes before the original liftoff time before successfully launching after a 35-minute delay.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Skyroot team to congratulate them, hailing the mission as an inspiration for India's youth and a milestone in opening the space sector to private companies.