NEW DELHI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- India's first privately-developed launch vehicle "Vikram 1" was successfully launched on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Center located in Sriharikota in the country's southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

India's Skyroot Aerospace orbital rocket Vikram-1 blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on July 18, 2026. (Photo: AFP)

"Vikram 1" was a multi-stage launch vehicle capable of placing payloads weighing up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit. All its stages reportedly performed nominally, with the separations being precise and clean.

Congratulating the team of scientists at private company Skyroot Aerospace, who indigenously built the launch vehicle, the Indian Space Research Organisation said that the mission marked a significant milestone for India's private space sector and reflected the growing capability of the country's space ecosystem.