India’s first private rocket firm to slash satellite costs

Employees pose in front of Vikram-S rocket, India?s first private rocket developed by Skyroot, an Indian Space-Tech startup, at a spaceport in Sriharikota, India, November 18, 2022. Skyroot/Handout via REUTERS

BENGALURU: The startup behind India’s first private space launch plans to put a satellite into orbit in 2023 and expects to be able to do so at half of the cost of established launch companies, the founders of Skyroot Aerospace have told Reuters in an interview.

The Hyderabad-based company, backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, says the US$68mil (RM304mil) it has raised will fund its next two launches. Skyroot has been in contact with more than 400 potential customers, it said.