Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Amitabh Bachchan Asks Skyroot CEOs Rocket Questions on KBC 18
A famous Indian actor named Amitabh Bachchan hosts a TV quiz show called Kaun Banega Crorepati.
For an Independence Day special episode, he invited two friends who build rockets, Pawan Chandana and Bharath Daka.
Mr. Bachchan asked them simple questions that many people wonder about.
One question was how long a rocket takes to reach space.
Someone in the audience guessed one or two days, but the real answer is just 15 minutes!
Chandana said his company, Skyroot Aerospace, is like a taxi service for space.
Their rocket, Vikram-1, was the first rocket ever built by a private Indian company to reach space orbit.
It climbed 450 kilometers high and let go of four small satellites and experiments.
One experiment was a robotic arm that helps clean up space junk, and it worked perfectly.
Now everyone is watching the show, which airs on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV.
Skyroot Aerospace co-founders and CEOs Pawan Chandana and Bharath Daka appeared as chief guests on the Independence Day special episode of Amitabh Bachchan's Kaun Banega Crorepati 18.
Chandana revealed that a rocket takes just 15 minutes to reach space, stunning an audience member who had guessed one or two days.
Explaining Skyroot as 'the taxi of space,' Chandana said rockets are needed to carry satellites into orbit around Earth.
Vikram-1, India's first privately built rocket to reach orbit, launched from Sriharikota into a 450 km orbit and released four payloads, including nanosatellites and space-debris removal technology.
Cosmoserve's Embrace debris-removal payload, testing a soft robotic capture system to tackle space debris, survived launch and its critical systems operated as expected, said founder Chiranjeevi Phanindra.
- Who
- Amitabh Bachchan, host of Kaun Banega Crorepati 18, and Skyroot Aerospace co-founders and CEOs Pawan Chandana and Bharath Daka, along with Cosmoserve founder Chiranjeevi Phanindra.
- What
- Skyroot's CEOs appeared on the KBC 18 Independence Day special, discussed how rockets reach space, and highlighted Vikram-1, India's first privately built rocket to reach orbit.
- When
- The Independence Day special episode; promos went viral ahead of the announced first broadcast date of 6 August.
- Where
- India — the KBC set, with Skyroot's Vikram-1 launched from Sriharikota.
- Why
- To mark Independence Day and showcase India's growing private space ecosystem, including on-orbit testing of payloads such as space-debris removal technology.
- Show
- Kaun Banega Crorepati 18 (KBC 18)
- Host
- Amitabh Bachchan
- Guests
- Pawan Chandana and Bharath Daka, co-founders and CEOs of Skyroot Aerospace
- Rocket
- Vikram-1, India's first privately built rocket to reach orbit
- Launch site
- Sriharikota
- Orbit achieved
- 450 km
- Payloads released
- 4 (including nanosatellites and space-debris removal technology)
- Broadcast platforms
- Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV