Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 became India's first privately developed rocket to reach orbit Saturday, lifting off from Sriharikota Island at 06:35 UTC and hitting a 280-mile orbit on its debut flight.
The 72-foot, solid-fueled rocket can carry up to 770 pounds into low-Earth orbit, making it slightly larger than Rocket Lab's Electron. A last-minute technical issue delayed the launch over 30 minutes before the countdown resumed.
The vehicle specs, the launch timeline, and the comparison to Electron are worth reading in full: this is the baseline against which India's commercial launch sector will be measured going forward.
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