BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao on Friday, 17 July 2026, publicly lauded Skyroot Aerospace, the Hyderabad-based private space-launch startup, calling its growth trajectory a source of 'great joy' and expressing confidence in the company's continued rise. The former Telangana IT and Industries Minister also credited T-Hub, the state-backed startup incubator, for producing ventures that are, in his words, 'soaring into the skies.'

Context

K. T. Rama Rao, who oversaw Telangana's technology and industries portfolio during the BRS government's tenure, posted his remarks on X, tagging T-Hub Hyderabad directly. 'What a great joy it has been to see the growth trajectory of Skyroot,' he wrote, adding that T-Hub 'is yielding amazing results with its incubatees soaring into the skies.' The post was accompanied by an image and reflects his continued public engagement with the startup ecosystem he helped build.

Skyroot Aerospace was founded in 2018 by former ISRO scientists and has been incubated at T-Hub in Hyderabad. The company targets small-satellite orbital launches using its indigenously developed Vikram series of rockets, positioning itself at the forefront of India's emerging private space industry.

Policy Backdrop

India's space sector reforms of 2020 were a watershed moment, formally opening launch services and satellite manufacturing to private enterprises for the first time. Before those reforms, the sector was the exclusive domain of government agencies. The policy shift created the regulatory runway that companies like Skyroot Aerospace needed to attract private capital and pursue commercial launches.

T-Hub, launched in 2015 under the then-Telangana government as a flagship deep-tech incubator, played a direct role in nurturing early-stage space ventures. During K. T. Rama Rao's tenure as IT Minister, Hyderabad was actively positioned as a complementary hub to Bengaluru for aerospace and advanced technology investment, with state incentives directed at deep-tech startups.

Stakeholders and Impact

For India's growing community of space-tech entrepreneurs, endorsements from senior political figures who shaped enabling policy carry both symbolic and practical weight — signalling continued cross-party interest in sustaining the private space ecosystem beyond any single government's tenure. Skyroot Aerospace's trajectory is closely watched by investors, peer launch-vehicle startups, and ISRO itself, which has a formal framework for supporting private launch companies.

T-Hub's model — state-backed but operationally independent — has attracted attention from other Indian states seeking to replicate Hyderabad's deep-tech cluster. K. T. Rama Rao's post reinforces the incubator's brand at a time when competition among state-level startup ecosystems is intensifying.

What's Next

The immediate focus for Skyroot Aerospace remains its orbital launch programme, with the Vikram rocket series central to its commercial ambitions. Any follow-on aerospace policy announcements from the current Telangana government will indicate whether the institutional support that helped incubate the company endures under new political leadership. K. T. Rama Rao's continued vocal support for the venture suggests BRS intends to keep the startup ecosystem narrative as a core part of its political identity in the state.