Hardware for India’s first privately developed orbital rocket, Vikram-1, has been flagged off from Hyderabad en route to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ceremonially flagged off the flight hardware on Saturday. Developed by a Hyderabad-based space start-up, Vikram-1 is designed for commercial small satellite missions in the growing global market. The rocket uses carbon fibre structures and 3D-printed components and is capable of carrying payloads of up to 300 kilogrammes to low Earth orbit. Built over around four years with support from ISRO and recent space sector reforms, the rocket will now be integrated and prepared for launch at Sriharikota, marking a key step in India’s private space ambitions.