Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 05:06am on 23 Jun 2026,Tuesday Science
A remarkable turnaround story from India’s growing private space sector, Pawan Kumar Chandana transformed early academic struggles into entrepreneurial success. After scoring just 51 marks in mathematics during school, Chandana improved through IIT-JEE preparation, secured admission to Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, and later joined Indian Space Research Organisation as a scientist. In 2018, he left ISRO to co-found Skyroot Aerospace with Naga Bharath Daka. The company achieved a historic milestone by launching India’s first privately developed rocket and recently reached a valuation of about $1.1 billion. Skyroot is now preparing for the orbital launch of its Vikram-1 rocket. (PC: MJF World)
