Space Startup

The Prime Minister said private participation had strengthened India's space ambitions and urged startups to explore applications in agriculture, environment and education

Overall annual funding grew fivefold over four years, rising from $43 million across 12 rounds in 2021 to $200 million across 53 rounds in 2025

India has around 440 space technology startups, while private investment in the sector rose nearly six-fold to $618.5 million by March 2026, government data show

The acquisition brings StarOps' satellite platforms, indigenous spacecraft technologies and engineering expertise into GalaxEye, strengthening its capabilities across the satellite value chain

The made-in-India satellite battery-powered an experimental payload at an altitude of 450 km, validating its performance through launch and harsh orbital conditions

Skyroot's orbital launch and unicorn status prove policy reforms fuelled rapid industry growth

Experts say breakthrough paves the way for launch vehicles, manufacturing, and commercial space services

Vikram-1 launch: Mission Aagaman will test India's first privately developed orbital rocket and could open the door to a new era of commercial satellite launches by Indian private companies

Bengaluru-based Space start-up Galaxeye has lost contact with its satellite Mission Drishti, the world's first OptoSAR satellite, which was launched in May, and the likelihood of recovery currently appears low. According to the company, the connection was lost after the satellite encountered an anomaly following a geomagnetic solar storm. "Initial root cause analysis indicates that radiation effects associated with the event likely impacted a critical onboard system. Communication with the spacecraft subsequently became intermittent and was eventually lost," said Galaxeye. The satellite integrated electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform. While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses. Mission Drishti successfully established communication and completed a major portion of its planned Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP).

Cosmoserve Space's Mission Embrace will fly aboard Skyroot's maiden orbital launch to demonstrate soft robotic satellite capture technology for future active space debris removal missions

Three years after opening the space sector to private players, India is seeing startups scale up satellite, launch vehicle and space technology capabilities

Satellite manufacturing and launch alliance aims to build sovereign space ecosystem

With restrictions in parts of Asia on how retail investors may access the IPO, traders are scoping out regional suppliers to ride the SpaceX-driven rally

India's private space sector is witnessing a funding boom, with investments surging after policy reforms opened the industry to private players

GalaxEye claims it has signed distribution partnerships across over 20 countries, even before full commissioning

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Skyroot's Infinity Campus and unveiled the Vikram-I rocket, which can launch satellites; the campus will design, test and build rockets monthly

Isro chairman V Narayanan credits IN-SPACe for integrating startups into India's space ecosystem; says human lunar mission target set for 2040

Agnikul's in-house development facilities are one of the main driving forces of this new attempt, with every patent and system designed to support more affordable, customisable launch services

Eight more startups, including Fractal Analytics and BharatGen, will build LLMs and SLMs under the IndiaAI Mission as the govt also plans 500 AI data labs and an AI governance framework

Part-I explores why deeptech lagged in India, what's finally changing, and the hurdles ahead. Part-II profiles the builders - their ideas, technologies, and ambitions