Beyond ISRO: The Rise of India’s Private Space Economy

A month ago, Skyroot Aerospace, an Indian space startup, became the first private entity to launch a rocket and deploy its payload into orbit. In fact, they did this in their first attempt. Similarly, two years ago, Agnikul Cosmos launched its Agnibaan SOrTeD rocket, a suborbital tech demonstrator.

Liberalisation of the Indian space sector has opened doors for private businesses to enter the space sector. Before 2020, the space sector, much like other strategic sectors, was closely guarded. But the growth of private entities such as Blue Origin and SpaceX changed how launches were conducted. Private entities chasing efficiency brought launch costs down.

To utilise the capabilities of Indian private players’ efficiency and Indian talent, and create value while enhancing India’s comprehensive space capabilities, GoI in 2020 initiated reforms in the space sector. Below is the crux of the reforms.

But coming back to main topic here, in this article you’ll get to know the major Indian space startups and what they building.

Launch vehicles

Skyroot Aerospace – Building Vikram series — modular launch vehicles for dedicated/rideshare missions, aiming for rapid assembly (targeted ~24–72 hours) for on-demand launches. Their launch vehicle uses Kalam series solid motors, Raman series liquid engines and Dhawan series cryogenic engines.

1. Vikram-1 – A Four-stage vehicle (3 solid + 1 liquid). Capable of delivering payload of ~350 kg to LEO and 260–290 kg to SSO/SSPO.
2. Vikram-2 (under development, planned ~2027): Higher capacity, capable carrying payload of ~900 kg to LEO and ~600 kg to SSO.

Agnikul Cosmos – Building Agnibaan series — customizable, modular small-lift launch vehicles, aiming for on-demand, low-cost LEO access and mobile launch capability. Their vehicles use 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic Agnilet and Agnite engines.

1. Agnibaan SOrTeD (Suborbital Technological Demonstrator): A single-stage vehicle.
2. Agnibaan (under development): A customizable 2–3 stage vehicle. Capable of delivering a payload of ~30–300+ kg to ~680–700 km LEO.

EtherealX – Building Razor Crest Mk-1 (RCM1) — fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicles, aiming for rapid turnaround (72–96 hours), multi-orbit insertions, and low cost-per-kg. Their vehicles use Stallion and Pegasus RP-1/LOX engines.

1. Razor Crest Mk-1 (targeted tech demo ~late 2027): A two-stage vehicle. Capable of delivering payloads up to ~24.8 tonnes (expendable), ~22.8 tonnes (partially reusable), and ~8 tonnes (fully reusable) to LEO, and up to ~10.8 tonnes to GTO (expendable).

Talisha Space – Building Kalpana series — low-cost, reusable small rockets, aiming for suborbital to orbital capability, student R&D, and CubeSat deployment. Their vehicles use a mix of solid, hybrid, and small liquid engines like the TITAN TK-1.

1. Kalpana-1 (demonstrator, targeted 2025–2027): A two-stage (solid or hybrid) vehicle. Capable of delivering payloads of ~10–32 kg to LEO or suborbital altitudes.
2. Kalpana-2 (intermediate): A three-stage hybrid vehicle. Capable of carrying payloads of ~20–30 kg.
3. Kalpana-3 (advanced): A three-stage hybrid vehicle. Capable of carrying payloads of up to ~34–100 kg.

Note: Skyroot and Agnikul are in the most advanced stages, having conducted flights (orbital success for Skyroot; suborbital for Agnikul). EtherealX targets a larger class with full reusability like SpaceX’s Falcon series. Talisha is still in an earlier R&D/prototype stage.

Satellite Manufacturing and Services

So there might be some technical terms, but here is the crux of what they do: These products serve as the cameras, building blocks, and delivery systems for modern space missions. They use advanced colour and radar vision to see through clouds, darkness, and trees to monitor crop health, track ocean vessel traffic, and spot security threats on Earth. The rest provide ready-made satellite bodies, power systems, and heat-shielded capsules to launch missions quickly and bring valuable scientific cargo safely back down from orbit. I have also highlighted the work; just try to understand what they do.

Pixxel — Building hyperspectral Earth observation constellations paired with AI analytics (Aurora platform), focusing on VNIR and SWIR imaging for agriculture, mining, climate, and defence.

• Firefly Constellation (operational): ~50 kg satellites delivering 5–5.4 m GSD in VNIR (470–900 nm), 40 km swath, and ~1-day global revisit in SSO (~590 km).
• Honeybee Constellation (upcoming ~2026–2027+): ~5 m GSD expanding into SWIR (470–2500 nm, ~72 selectable bands) with 1–4 day revisit in SSO (~550 km).

Dhruva Space — Providing full-stack small satellite platforms, orbital deployers, GaAs solar arrays (Solis+), and ground station services (GSaaS) for modular LEO missions.

• P-DoT CubeSat Platform: modular bus for tech demonstrations
• P-30 NanoSat Bus: 20–50 kg platform supporting up to 15 kg payloads.
• P-Nu Platform (upcoming): Scaled bus targeting the 100–500 kg class for larger commercial and defence payloads.

GalaxEye Space — Developing OptoSAR multi-sensor Earth observation satellites that combine optical MSI and SAR on a single platform for all-weather, day-night co-registered imaging.

• Drishti (Mission Drishti / OptoSAR): ~190 kg SSO satellite featuring X-band SAR (up to 0.9 m resolution) and 7-band MSI (3.6 m native GSD), powered by onboard AI edge processing (NVIDIA Jetson Orin) for simultaneous image fusion.

PierSight Space — Developing CubeSat-scale SAR and integrated SAR+AIS systems tailored for persistent maritime intelligence, EEZ surveillance, and defence ISR.

• Varuna (demonstrator, launched Dec 2024): TRL-9 CubeSat X-band software-defined SAR for compact maritime vessel detection.
• Varuna 2 Constellation (planned ~2026–2028): Commercial SAR + AIS integrated satellites targeting 100% ocean coverage and ~30-minute revisit times.
• Vidura: Drone-agnostic multi-band (X-, L-, P-band) radar payload for foliage-penetrating (FOPEN) tactical ground surveillance.

Catalyx Space — Building vertically integrated satellite buses, orbital return vehicles, and deployment mechanisms for hosted payloads and LEO downmass infrastructure.

• Cosmotron Bus: ~50 kg class all-in-one platform supporting 20–30 kg payload capacity, designed for rapid concept-to-orbit deployment (<6 months).
• ReX Reentry Capsules: Deployable TPS heat-shield return vehicles ranging from ReX-50/100 (4–10 kg payload downmass) to heavy variants for returning pharma, biotech, and research cargo from orbit.
• DeployerX: In-house separation and deployment systems for smallsat orbital delivery.

Digantara — Building space domain awareness (SDA) and defence intelligence systems through AI-fused sensor networks for real-time tracking, collision avoidance, and missile warning.

• MOSAIC: A distributed network of autonomous, solar-powered electro-optical sensors utilizing AI for continuous, wide-area tracking of space objects.
• STARS: Unified ISR and predictive analytics software that fuses multi-modal data for rapid tracking, anomaly detection, collision risk assessment, and threat prioritization.
• Supporting Systems: Includes PRISM (electro-optical sensing), LOCUS (precision tracking), AIRA (data-fusion engine), and SCOT (in-orbit surveillance payload capable of tracking ~5 cm objects).

SatSure & KaleidEO — Delivering full-stack Earth Observation-as-a-Service (EOaaS), combining upstream AI-enabled satellites (KaleidEO) with downstream sector-specific analytics (SatSure).

• KaleidEO Constellation: Planned ~175 kg satellites featuring onboard edge-computing and optical payloads (OPT-120 and OPT-70) for high-resolution multispectral imagery.
• Sparta: A Data-as-a-Service platform providing multi-modal data fusion and APIs for building industry-specific geospatial solutions.
• Sage: An agri-lending platform delivering historical and in-season farm data to assist financial institutions with crop and yield risk assessments.
• Skies: An ICAO-compliant analytics module providing near real-time insights for infrastructure, aerodrome mapping, terrain data, and route optimization.

Blue Sky Analytics — Specializing in climate-tech data intelligence by converting satellite and ancillary data into high-resolution environmental metrics for risk assessment and ESG investing.

• SpaceTime™ Platform: An interactive digital-twin interface for visualizing and layering historical, real-time, and predictive spatio-temporal environmental datasets.
• API-based Climate Data Hub: A catalog of high-resolution datasets covering air quality, emissions, surface water, and wildfires, designed for seamless integration into client workflows.

Propulsion and In-Space Mobility

Bellatrix Aerospace — Specialises in electric, green monopropellant(Single fuel), and microwave plasma propulsion systems, alongside in-space mobility via Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTVs).

• Arka Series (Hall-Effect Thrusters): Xenon/custom electric thrusters ranging from Arka 50 (3 mN, 50 W) to Arka 5000 (260 mN, 5 kW) for satellite station-keeping, drag compensation, and orbit raising.
• Rudra Series (Green Propulsion): Non-toxic, high-performance monopropellant thrusters (1 N to 100 N) replacing toxic hydrazine for attitude control and fast orbital maneuvers.
• Jal Series (Microwave Plasma Thrusters): Water-powered electric propulsion providing high thrust-to-power (e.g., Jal 5000: 300 mN at 5 kW) for high-power LEO/GEO missions.
• Pushpak OTV: In-space “space taxi” utilizing onboard electric propulsion for rideshare last-mile payload delivery and orbital insertion.

Manastu Space — Specialises in green monopropellant propulsion using proprietary MS-289 (hydrogen peroxide-based) fuel for collision avoidance, station-keeping, and de-orbiting.

• Vyom 2U: Modular 1 N class plug-and-play propulsion system (~1700 Ns total impulse) for CubeSats and nanosats up to 100 kg (TRL-8/flight-proven on POEM-4).
• I-Booster: Multi-thruster system (e.g, 4 × 1 N, ~20,000 Ns total impulse) developed for 100–500 kg satellites and defence applications.
• Sharanga: Low-pressure micro-propulsion system (1–10 mN, ~500 Ns total impulse) designed for fine attitude control and de-orbiting of CubeSats up to 50 kg.
• GP-LAM: 300 N thruster (~150,000 Ns total impulse) engineered for OTVs, launch vehicle upper stages, and GTO-to-GEO orbit transfers.

All in all, India’s space sector is moving towards self-reliance, and private firms, along with building rockets, are also developing every component of the space value chain, from green engines and smart satellites to AI-driven data platforms to solve real-world problems and turn them into full-stack commercial applications.