Skyroot has opened a new 10,000-square-foot workspace for its engineers at its Aero Towers campus in Hyderabad, as its first rocket Vikram-1 is being assembled at Sriharikota. (Photo: X/@Skyroot)

Skyroot Aerospace unveils striking new workspace for its rocket engineers. See pics

Skyroot Aerospace has opened a new workspace of more than 10,000 square feet at its Aero Towers campus in Hyderabad, just as its rocket Vikram-1 is being assembled on the launch pad at Sriharikota. Here is an inside look at the new workspace, the rocket and India's race to its first private orbital launch.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Skyroot Aerospace opens new workspace at its Aero Towers campus.
  • Vikram-1 is being assembled at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
  • Vikram-1 will attempt India's first private orbital launch this year.

Skyroot Aerospace has given some of its engineers a new place to work. On June 20, the Hyderabad rocket company shared the first look at a new workspace, more than 10,000 square feet of it, at its Aero Towers campus in the city.

It is being run as a design and innovation centre, set close to the firm's factories, so the people who design rockets sit a short walk from the people who build them.

A quick tour of Skyroot's new Aero Towers workspace, from open desks and meeting rooms to a lounge and a cafe. (Photo: Skyroot)

A fresh office may sound like little news.

It matters because of what is happening a few hundred kilometres south.

WHY THE TIMING MATTERS

Skyroot's first orbital rocket, Vikram-1, is no longer a drawing on a screen.

It is being bolted together stage by stage at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India's main spaceport.

Rows of open desks and ergonomic chairs give Skyroot's engineering teams room to design and work together. (Photo: Skyroot)

In June, engineers fitted its second stage, a solid-fuel motor named Kalam-250, into the rocket.

Once the remaining stages are joined, Vikram-1 will attempt India's first orbital launch by a private company, expected later this year.

An orange banquette and botanical walls bring a touch of warmth to the workspace cafe. (Photo: Skyroot)

For a rocket, reaching orbit means leaving a satellite at a position in space where it will circle Earth, not just rising and falling back.

The new workspace is part of the push to grow the team behind that countdown.

THREE CAMPUSES, ONE CHAIN

Skyroot now spreads across three sites in Hyderabad, each with a role.

Soft sofas against a riveted metal wall make a quiet corner for quick chats between teams. (Photo: Skyroot)

Max-Q, the first, is named after the moment in a launch when a climbing rocket is squeezed the hardest by the rushing air.

A meeting room crowned with wave-like acoustic panels, which soak up sound to keep long design reviews calm. (Photo: Skyroot)

Infinity Campus, opened in November 2025 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a 2,00,000-square-foot factory built to roll out one rocket a month.

The new workspace sits inside the GMR Aero Towers building in Hyderabad, a short distance from Skyroot's rocket factories. (Photo: Skyroot)

Aero Towers, set in the GMR Aerocity complex near the airport, is the quieter end of the chain, where design and fresh ideas take shape. The new workspace adds room there as the company hires.

MEET VIKRAM-1

Named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space programme, Vikram-1 is a four-stage rocket built to carry small satellites.

It can lift around 350 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit, the busy band a few hundred kilometres up where most satellites sit, and about 260 kilograms to a Sun-synchronous orbit, a path that crosses the same spot at the same local time each day, ideal for weather and mapping.

A wood-toned cafe with arched alcoves gives engineers a relaxed spot to step away from their desks. (Photo: Skyroot)

Its lower stages run on Kalam motors, named after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, burning a rubbery solid fuel for a hard first kick.

The top stage switches to liquid fuel for the gentle, exact nudges that place a satellite where it belongs.

Vikram-1 is a four-stage rocket designed to serve the growing small satellite launch market, combining solid propulsion stages with advanced guidance and control systems. (Photo: Skyroot)

The body is carbon composite, carbon fibre set in resin, lighter than metal but just as tough, so the rocket carries more.

Many engine parts are 3D-printed, built up layer by layer, which saves weight and turns ideas into tests in days.

WHY VIKRAM-I MATTERS

In May 2026, Skyroot became India's first space-tech unicorn, worth 1.1 billion dollars, with over 1,000 staff.

A sleek metallic reception desk, lit by a thin strip of light, to greet visitors at Skyroot's new workspace. (Photo: Skyroot)

Founded in 2018 by former Isro scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, the firm wants spaceflight to feel as routine as catching a flight. The new workspace is one more step on that runway.

- Ends