Who is Pawan Kumar Chandana, Skyroot CEO behind India’s horic Vikram-1 launch?

India entered a new era of commercial spaceflight on Saturday after Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 became the country’s first privately developed rocket to reach orbit.IIT Kharagpur alumnus Pawan Kumar Chandana turned his space ambitions into reality with Skyroot’s Vikram-1 launch. (PTI)(Also read: How much does an ISRO scient earn? Salary, eligibility explained amid resignation reports)The launch vehicle lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 12.05 pm as part of Mission Aagaman. About 15 minutes later, it successfully placed its payloads into a 450 km orbit, making India the third country to achieve orbital launch capability through private enterprise.Standing roughly seven storeys tall, Vikram-1 is an all-carbon-composite launch vehicle designed for small satellite missions. It uses three solid-propellant stages and a liquid-fuel orbital adjustment module powered a 3D-printed engine. The rocket can carry payloads weighing up to 350 kg into low Earth orbit.The man behind Skyroot’s milestoneAt the centre of the achievement is Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and chief executive officer of Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace. Chandana is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and a former scient at the Indian Space Research Organisation.According to an India Today report, Chandana grew up in a middle-class family in Hyderabad and developed an early curiosity about machines and technology. His academic journey was not always smooth, but the support of his father helped him remain focused. Mathematics and science, which were once difficult subjects for him, later became the foundation of his career.Chandana cleared the IIT entrance examination on his first attempt and joined IIT Kharagpur in 2007, where he completed a dual BTech-MTech degree in mechanical engineering. He was recruited ISRO directly from the campus in 2012 and worked at the space agency for nearly six years before leaving to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.How Skyroot Aerospace beganChandana co-founded Skyroot Aerospace in 2018 with Naga Bharath Daka, another former ISRO engineer. The company launched Vikram-S, India’s first privately developed suborbital rocket, on 18 November 2022.(Also read: Sky is no longer the limit: Vikram-1 launch is a leap for India’s private space sector)Skyroot has since expanded to employ more than 1,000 people. In May 2026, it raised $60 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion. Its Infinity Campus in Hyderabad has the capacity to manufacture one orbital rocket every month.Speaking about Vikram-1 earlier, Chandana told HT: “It is 100% designed in India, 100% manufactured in India. We have built it from scratch.”