STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADWho is Prithvi Sanghani?
After completing her undergraduate degree in engineering in Rajkot, Sanghani made a pivotal academic choice that would shape her professional destiny.
Equipped with specialised postgraduate expertise, Sanghani stepped into the professional arena at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
As Control System Lead, Sanghani bore the immense responsibility of ensuring that Vikram-1 maintained its precise, pre-programmed trajectory through punishing aerodynamic forces, wind shears, and stage separations.
The warm welcome I received has made me very emotional…”Jamnagar, Gujarat: Prithvi Sanghani, who has made a mark in India's space and defence sectors, received a grand welcome on her return to Vibhapar village.
The successful maiden orbital flight of Vikram-1 last week — India’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle — marked a watershed moment for the country’s burgeoning commercial space sector.
Yet, behind the roaring engines, telemetry screens, and public celebrations, the mission’s success rests on the meticulous, unseen architecture of code and control.
Among the key minds engineering this triumph is Prithvi Sanghani, the Control System Lead for Vikram-1’s autopilot and guidance system, whose extraordinary journey from a quiet farming household in Gujarat to the cutting edge of aerospace technology has captured national attention.
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Who is Prithvi Sanghani?
Born and raised in Jamnagar, Gujarat, Sanghani’s early life stood far removed from the high-security labs and cleanrooms of the aerospace industry.
Growing up in a family rooted in agriculture, she navigated a path defined by academic discipline and relentless curiosity.
While many students from smaller towns gravitate toward conventional engineering streams or metropolitan corporate tracks, Sanghani charted an unconventional trajectory that required immense grit, focus, and a willingness to venture into deeply specialised domains.
After completing her undergraduate degree in engineering in Rajkot, Sanghani made a pivotal academic choice that would shape her professional destiny.
Recognising the critical intersection of mechanical stability, electronics, and computational control, she moved to Pune to pursue a Master’s degree in Missile Technology. This specialised postgraduate programme is notoriously rigorous, undertaken by only a handful of engineers nationwide.
It provided her with a profound, foundational mastery of flight dynamics, guidance algorithms, and the high-stakes physics governing aerodynamic stability and trajectory correction.
What was Sanghani’s role in the Vikram-1 launch?
Equipped with specialised postgraduate expertise, Sanghani stepped into the professional arena at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Serving as a Project Engineer, she contributed directly to India’s sophisticated defence and missile programmes.
Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace launched its Vikram-1 rocket, marking the first attempt by an Indian private company to place a satellite in orbit, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India, July 18, 2026. File Image/Reuters
In a government research ecosystem known for its high standards and national security stakes, she honed her ability to handle complex control systems under demanding constraints.
For many young engineers, a prominent tenure at DRDO represents a lifelong career destination. However, the dawn of India’s private space revolution — catalysed by sweeping space sector reforms — opened up new horizons that beckoned to engineers eager to build at startup speed.
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In the rapidly evolving landscape of India’s private aerospace sector, Hyderabad-headquartered Skyroot Aerospace emerged as a pioneer, capturing global headlines as India’s premier space-tech unicorn.
Seeking to push the boundaries of commercial launch capabilities, Skyroot assembled a young, elite team of engineers to spearhead Mission Aagaman and the development of the Vikram-1 rocket.
It was within this dynamic, high-pressure environment that Sanghani found her next calling, joining the company to tackle one of the mission’s most unforgiving technical challenges: the autopilot and guidance control system.
In rocketry, the propulsion system provides the sheer brute force required to tear through the atmosphere, but the guidance and autopilot systems act as the rocket’s cognitive nervous system.
As Control System Lead, Sanghani bore the immense responsibility of ensuring that Vikram-1 maintained its precise, pre-programmed trajectory through punishing aerodynamic forces, wind shears, and stage separations.
A fraction of a degree in miscalculation or a millisecond delay in control actuation can send a multi-million-dollar launch vehicle spinning off course.
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Her work involved translating complex mathematical models and sensor feedback loops into infallible onboard software that commands thrust vectoring and aerodynamic control surfaces in real time.
The successful liftoff of Vikram-1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota not only validated years of gruelling software simulations, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and late-night troubleshooting, but it also vindicated the unconventional career bets made by engineers like Sanghani.
When the rocket successfully pierced the upper atmosphere to reach orbit, it signalled a tectonic shift away from monolithic state monopolies toward agile, private-sector-driven space exploration.
Beyond the telemetry data and orbital parameters, Sanghani’s rise carries profound cultural and social resonance.
In a sector historically dominated by urban elites and traditional engineering hubs, her narrative serves as a powerful antidote to systemic barriers.
Coming from an agricultural family in Jamnagar, she exemplifies how democratised access to specialised education, paired with extraordinary personal dedication, can bridge the gap between rural roots and the frontiers of interplanetary ambition.
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Speaking to media in her hometown Sanghani said, “I worked on the Vikram-1 launch vehicle mission, and after its successful completion, I have returned to my village to meet my family and the people here. The warm welcome I received has made me very emotional…”
Jamnagar, Gujarat: Prithvi Sanghani, who has made a mark in India's space and defence sectors, received a grand welcome on her return to Vibhapar village. She visited a temple before being felicitated by villagers and family members
Vikram-1 Team Member, Prithvi Sanghani says,… pic.twitter.com/YoKiAsbgZq — IANS (@ians_india) July 24, 2026
As India races toward a multi-billion-dollar share of the global commercial space market, the human element remains its greatest asset.
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With inputs from agencies
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