Small Satellite Launch Market in India Moving Forward
A major investment in Skyroot Aerospace will help propel the company's small satellite launch business.
“This round puts us [on] a trajectory of hyper-growth by funding all of our initial launches, and enables building infrastructure to meet high launch cadence required by our satellite customers."
Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyroot.
The Hyperbad, India-based company successfully raised $51 million in a Series-B funding round led by GIC, a leading global investment firm, and is the largest funding round ever in the Indian private Space-Tech sector, according to the company. As part of the investment, Mayank Rawat, Managing Director of GIC India Direct Investment Group, will join Skyroot’s Board.
“This round puts us in a trajectory of hyper-growth by funding all of our initial launches, and enables building infrastructure to meet high launch cadence required by our satellite customers. Our goal is to become the best-in-class launch services provider and go-to destination for affordable and reliable small satellite launches,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO, Skyroot.
“We have validated all three propulsion technologies in our Vikram space launch vehicles, and completed a full duration test of one of our rocket stages in May. We are also planning a demonstrator launch this year. This round will help us get to full-fledged commercial satellite launch scale within a year. We have started booking payload slots for our upcoming launches,” said Naga Bharath Daka, Co-Founder and COO, Skyroot.
Small Satellite Launch Vehicle Development Completed
Critical steps in the development of Skyroot's small satellite launch vehicles have been completed. The flagship Vikram Launch Vehicle series is uniquely built with an all-carbon-fiber structure, and can launch up to 800 kg (≈1,746 pounds) of payloads to Low Earth Orbit.
With a strong tech team of 1000+ years cumulative rocket industry experience, Skyroot is envisioning a world where space flight is as affordable, regular, and reliable as air flight. Skyroot is the first startup to sign an MoU with the ISRO for sharing facilities and expertise.
The 4-year-old Skyroot has successfully built and tested India's first privately developed cryogenic, hypergolic-liquid, and solid fuel-based rocket engines; the R&D and production activities extensively use advanced composite and 3D-printing technologies.
The global space launch services market is projected to grow from $14.21 billion in 2022 to $31.90 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 12.25%.
(Images provided with Skyroot Aerospace news release)