Hyderabad: US-based spacetech startup Reflect Orbital has purchased two dedicated launches from Skyroot Aerospace on Vikram rockets, giving the Indian private launch company another international customer after the debut orbital success of its Vikram-1 rocket earlier this year. Vikram-1 had successfully ferried payloads — uD3PP and mD3RN — from Skyroot’s first international customer, DCubed of Germany, on its first test flight on July 18 this year.The companies said the missions will carry future Reflect Orbital spacecraft and give the California startup assured schedule and capacity as it builds a deployment plan that also includes launches from the United States. However, financial terms and launch dates were not disclosed.Reflect Orbital is developing satellites equipped with orbital mirrors designed to redirect sunlight to precise locations on Earth. The company says the service could support night-time search-and-rescue operations, improve safety for construction crews and extend electricity generation at solar farms without requiring new ground infrastructure.“There’s a real launch capacity shortage right now,” Reflect Orbital co-founder and CEO Ben Nowack said, adding that Skyroot would help ensure their satellites’ access to space.He said the company was recently licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate its first spacecraft and would continue engagement with astronomers, communities and regulators.Skyroot co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana said Reflect Orbital represented the type of global mission the Vikram family of rockets was being built to serve and cited schedule certainty and mission flexibility.Founded in 2018, Skyroot became the first Indian private company to launch a rocket into space with Vikram-S in 2022. In July 2026, Vikram-1 reached low Earth orbit on its maiden flight. Skyroot raised nearly $60 million in May at a $1.1 billion valuation, becoming India’s first spacetech unicorn.
