Shortly after the success of the Vikram-1 rocket, India’s private space pioneer, Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka-led Skyroot Aerospace, has secured a significant commercial breakthrough from the United States.
US-based Reflect Orbital, a company seeking to harness sunlight from space and redirect it back to Earth, has purchased two dedicated launches on Skyroot rockets for future spacecraft deployment.
The order is significant not only because it comes from an American private company but also because it demonstrates growing international confidence in India’s emerging private launch industry.
For Skyroot, the contract adds to an already growing commercial launch manifest. The company said the deal extends its commercial launch pipeline across the Vikram family of launch vehicles, even as other missions are already lined up.
Reflect Orbital is developing what many describe as space mirrors or orbital reflectors that can redirect sunlight to specific locations on Earth. The company believes this technology could help extend solar energy generation after sunset, support emergency search and rescue operations during the night, and provide illumination where conventional infrastructure is unavailable.
In a sense, Skyroot could become the launch provider that helps put “space bulbs” into orbit.
Announcing the agreement, Ben Nowack, Co-Founder and CEO of Reflect Orbital, highlighted the growing challenge of securing launch opportunities.
“There’s a real launch capacity shortage right now. We’re excited to work with a new launch provider, Skyroot, to help ensure access to space,” he said.
Reflect Orbital describes itself as a company building space-enabled infrastructure to deliver sunlight to precise locations on Earth.
For Skyroot, the order serves as another validation of a journey that began just a few years ago.
Founded in 2018 by former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, Skyroot was created with the goal of opening access to space and building India’s first globally competitive private launch company. The company first grabbed headlines in 2022 when Vikram-S became the first rocket launched by an Indian private company.
The company followed that achievement with years of development work culminating in Mission Aagman, the maiden orbital mission of Vikram-1. In July 2026, Vikram-1 successfully reached orbit on its very first flight, becoming India’s first privately developed orbital rocket to achieve orbit on its maiden mission.
That success appears to be paying commercial dividends.
“Reflect Orbital represents the kind of ambitious global space mission the Vikram family is being built to serve. We are pleased to partner with Ben and the Reflect Orbital team across two dedicated launches, providing schedule certainty and mission flexibility,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace.
The deal also reflects the growing maturity of India’s private space ecosystem. For decades, India’s launch capabilities were represented almost exclusively by ISRO. Today, a new generation of private companies is beginning to enter the global market, competing for commercial launches and attracting international customers.
Reflect Orbital is a sign that overseas customers are willing to entrust critical missions to Indian private rockets.
