New Delhi: During the India International Space Conclave (IISC) 2025 at The Lalit, the fourth annual conference to commemorate the founding of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), ISpA Chairman AT Ramchandani said, “Agnikul unveiled the world’s first largest single-piece 3D printed Inconel engine and comissioned India’s first large format additive manufacturing facility. Skyroot Aerospace test fired Kalam-1200, India’s first privately-built rocket stage, a key step towards the Vikram I mission, the maiden orbital launch which is planned in February 2026.” Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace are expected to execute the first private orbital rocket launches from Indian soil next year, both having previously conducted suborbital test flights.

Even as the conference was going on, Hyderabad-based New Space startup Skyroot Aerospace celebrated the third anniversary of its Vikram-S mission, posting “Three years ago today, a beginning was made. The Prarambh of our journey to orbit and beyond. Mission Prarambh: The successful launch of India’s first privately developed rocket, Vikram-S. Now, history beckons again. The orbit calls Vikram-I.” Ramchandani went on to reveal, “GalaxEye is preparing to launch mission Drishti, a 160 kg multi-sensor satellite in Q1 2026. A fully Indian industry-made PSLV contract has been awarded to HAL and L&T, with the first launch in this financial year.”

ISRO on its side has a busy four months ahead, with seven planned flights scheduled by the end of the financial year. It is unclear if Dhrishti will be launching on an Indian launch vehicle, but there is a PSLV flight scheduled in the time frame with an NSIL customer payload. If all of the planned missions take place on time, then India will have reached an unprecedented launch cadence by April, or the start of the next financial year. Ramchandani said, “These are not isolated achievements, they are indications of an ecosystem maturing at remarkable speed.”