New Delhi, March 14 -- The first small rockets ferrying satellites on Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) design and technology will take at least two more years to reach the launch pad, even as work to find the ideal candidate for the job reaches its final stage.

Twenty-three companies had applied to build Isro's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), after the organization in 2023 decided to bring in the private sector to fuel the growth of the space sector. Of these, three were shortlisted. According to Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space), the country's nodal space agency, the government is "likely to finalize the private player for manufacturing SSLV by May this ye...