Rocket launches go private

According to the Indian Space Association (ISpA), four of these — Skyroot Aerospace, Agnikul Cosmos, Omspace Rocket and Exploration, and EtherealX — are in the launch vehicle segment. Two — Astrobase Space Technologies and MTAR Technologies — are working on rocket engines.

“When they talk of the launch business, it is not a very high potential compared to downstream. But it is very critical, as more and more mass is required to be put into space in terms of satellites globally. We have only around six of them, but these companies are critical for the future of the space sector, and their success is an indicator of the growth of our private space industry, especially the upstream sector,” said Lieutenant General A K Bhatt (retired), director general, ISpA. The upstream segment of the business includes all activities, products, and infrastructure ensuring the development, testing, launching, operations, and monitoring of space assets. The downstream segment refers to all applications, services, and devices relying on satellites to create business value. Based on ISpA estimates, the downstream segment contributes around 80 per cent, or $7.8 billion to the $9 billion Indian space economy.

Ambitious India is aiming for a crewed orbital mission in 2027, a space station by 2035, and a Moon landing by 2040. All of that means rockets to take the loads to space.

The global competition is stiff. Elon Musk-led SpaceX alone conducted 165 orbital launches in 2025, compared with China’s 93 and India’s five. The United States (US) had 193 launches during the year. Borrowing from the SpaceX playbook, some Indian firms are looking at reusable rockets. Take the case of Astrobase Space Technologies, a Bengaluru-based company founded in 2024 by former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientist Devakumar Thammisetty and Neeraj Khandelwal, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay-trained electrical engineer who also cofounded the crypto exchange CoinDCX.

Bengaluru-based Astrobase Space Technologies has taken a giant leap by moving beyond small satellite launch systems through high-thrust propulsion technologies that underpin reusable orbital-class rockets.

Early in August, it unveiled an 800 kilonewton-class rocket engine named Everest, which is India’s first privately developed high-thrust Full-Flow Staged Combustion engine and will power its planned reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. 

Astrobase is only the fourth company in the world that claims to have this technology after SpaceX and Stoke Space from the US, and Land Space from China.

“The US has close to 13,000 satellites in space, China has over 1,500, and we have hardly 55 operational. This gap needs to be filled fast. Our aim is to ensure that India should have at least 5,000 satellites in the lower orbit in the next 10 years. We have manufactured the first engine, and are expecting our commercial launch in 2028,” said Astrobase cofounder Neeraj Khandelwal.

The company aims to carry around 1,000 tonnes of payload (cargo a rocket carries) into orbit every year. Khandelwal said claims of reusable vehicles without a reusable engine are tall promises and that the highlight of his company is its reusable engine.

Agnikul Cosmos is working on an early-2027 launch of a mission that will aim to recover the rocket’s lower stage for reuse. “Reusable vehicles will extend our launch frequency. In the next four years, we want to do one launch a week, or 50 launches a year,” said Srinath Ravichandran, cofounder of Agnikul Cosmos.

The IIT Madras-incubated startup, founded by Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, is also planning to host a space-based artificial intelligence data centre, placing itself among a small group of big players, including SpaceX, Google, and Axiom, exploring this frontier.

“Globally, there are companies like SpaceX or Rocket Lab that launch regularly in the private sector. It needs years of dedicated effort, a lot of capital, and technical competence. It may be because of this complexity in operations that people are shying away from launch vehicles,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder of Skyroot, who founded the company in 2018 along with Naga Bharath Daka.

Its operational success in July is being seen as India’s SpaceX moment as it may fast-track the future growth of the upstream space segment. It is planning the launch of Vikram 2 by the end of 2027, targeting one launch a month by that time. Vikram 2 will have a higher payload (up to 900 kilogram), useful for launching larger satellites.

Though still in a very early stage, Ahmedabad-based Omspace Rocket and Exploration, founded by Ravindra Raj BM, is designing Infinity-One, a reusable small-satellite launch vehicle. In March this year, the company launched Gujarat’s first domestic private sounding rocket — these carry scientific instruments for research missions — from Dholera.

Bengaluru-based EtherealX is coming up with a medium-lift launch vehicle called Razor Crest Mk-1. The company is planning a technology demonstration vehicle in 2027, and its first commercial mission by the end of 2028.

Though MTAR Technologies cannot be considered a startup, it is crucial to India’s private space sector launches. The company manufactures liquid propulsion engines, cryogenic engines and electro-pneumatic modules to support the Isro’s space launch vehicles. 

Indian space sector funding over the years

Krishanu Acharya, founder of Noida-based Suhora Technologies, a leading earth observation and geospatial analytics company, said, “There are only a few companies in this space. However, for companies like us in the downstream sector, the domestic launch vehicle ecosystem is crucial because it will reduce the cost of putting our satellites into orbit in the longer run.”

Happily, Indian space startups are becoming a favourite destination for investors. Private space sector funding for the first seven months of the current financial year touched $121.43 million, compared with $149.36 million for all of 2025, based on ISpA data.

Last year Skyroot became India’s first private space-tech unicorn, crossing a $1-billion valuation and raising about $60 million, an indicator of rising investor interest in the launch vehicle sector. EtherealX also raised $20.5 million.

“Since launch vehicle operations are crucial, every time a launch happens in the sector, investors approach us for funding. The demand has increased, thanks to the government policies,” Ravichandran said.

Total investments in the sector have risen from $38 million before 2017 to $739 million now.  Another positive in the rise of Indian private players is they are expected to bring down the cost of launches in the global market.

“India is set to be the launchpad of the world, bringing down the cost of launches as well. For that, these launch vehicle companies are going to play the anchor role,” said Bhatt of ISpA.