Pawan Kumar Chandana

Pawan Kumar Chandana is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Indian space-launch company Skyroot Aerospace.

Journey

Chandana studied mechanical engineering at IIT Kharagpur and joined the Indian Space Research Organisation. At ISRO he worked at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre on launch-vehicle systems, including the GSLV Mk III programme. The experience gave him direct exposure to propulsion, structures, systems engineering and the discipline required for flight hardware.

He left ISRO with colleague Naga Bharath Daka and founded Skyroot in 2018. The company developed the Vikram family of rockets for small-satellite launches. It first flew the suborbital Vikram-S mission in 2022, using the mission to validate technologies and operations before pursuing orbital launches. Skyroot's official leadership page identifies Chandana as co-founder and CEO, responsible for company strategy, capital formation and programme delivery.

Working approach

Chandana has described private spaceflight as a sequence of engineering milestones rather than a single launch event. The company's use of in-house propulsion, composite structures and incremental tests reflects a risk-reduction approach common to aerospace development.

Assessment

He has helped move Indian private launch services from policy possibility to flight hardware. The long-term test is repeatable orbital performance, launch cadence, safety and commercial demand, not the visibility attached to individual demonstrations.