Skyroot Aerospace executives and the president of the Indian space agency (ISRO) pose with a replica of the Vikram-1 rocket after the successful launch in Sriharikota, India, on July 18, 2026. R. SATISH BABU / AFP The first rocket developed by a private company in the history of Indian space exploration was successfully launched this Saturday (18), from the Sriharikota space center, in the south of the country, announced the manufacturer Skyroot. At 23 meters high, the Vikram-1 rocket took off at 12:05 am local time (3:35 am in Brasília) and, just over 15 minutes later, reached its operational orbit, at around 450 miles (724 kilometers) altitude, without registering any problems. ??Do you have any reporting suggestions? Send it to g1 The vehicle was designed to place satellites weighing up to 350 kilograms into low orbit. On its inaugural flight, it carried demonstration devices developed by small Indian companies. Understand what ballistic missiles are, weapons that scare Europe The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, celebrated the achievement on the social network X. "The growing participation of the private sector opens new frontiers and accelerates innovation", he wrote. The most populous country in the world, with around 1.5 billion inhabitants, has ambitious goals for its space program. Modi stated that he intends to take an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040. To promote this goal, the government opened the space sector to the private sector in 2020. Currently, more than 400 small companies operate in this market, which generates around US$8 billion (approximately R$40 billion). India's Skyroot Aerospace Vikram-1 orbital rocket takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh SATISH BABU/AFP