For a class of impulsive fractional differential equation with fractional order r∈(1,2) by means of solution operator Sr(t), we develop the mild solution and deal with the existence results of mild solution for the considered equation with state-dependent delay through three fixed point theorems, namely Banach, Nonlinear Leray–Schauder Alternative and Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem. Next, we define the mild solution via an operator function Wr,β(τ) for abstract version of the considered equation. Further, we study the trajectory controllability (which is a stronger notion than other controllability) of the equation. In the last, we present some examples to illustrate the established results through partial fractional differential equations.