Spacetech start-up Skyroot Aerospace has raised $27.5 million (Rs 225 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings.
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The new capital infusion takes the company’s overall funding to $95 million, the highest-ever amount raised by an Indian spacetech start-up.
The Pre-Series C round will help the company drive its next phase of growth through increased investments in infrastructure, reinforce its technology leadership, enhance its launch frequency and capabilities and strengthen its team, the company said in a statement.
Founded in 2018 by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, Skyroot successfully launched India’s and South Asia’s first privately developed rocket Vikram-S into space in November last year. The mission named ‘Prarambh’ – meaning “the beginning” in Sanskrit – marked the entry of the private sector into the Indian space program, which has so far, remained government-controlled and funded. The flight data generated by the mission will be leveraged to plan its future missions using their Vikram Series of launch vehicles. Among other things, it will help the company assess the effectiveness of in-flight avionics, including telemetry, tracking, inertial measurement, GPS, camera, and data acquisition and power systems.
The Kondapur (Telangana)-based spacetech start-up provides on-demand, cost-effective, and regular space launch services to global small and medium-sized satellite market.
Skyroot was the first start-up to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ISRO. The collaboration provides the start-up access to the space agency’s advanced facilities and expertise.
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“As we prepare for the launch of our second mission early next year, this new funding will enable us to accelerate our upcoming launches planned over the next two years. India’s successful moon landing mission has reignited global interest in India’s space prowess. As a key player in India’s private space industry, we are amplifying our capabilities to tap into the expanding global satellite launch market with a goal to emerge as a favourite ‘go-to’ choice in space launch services for small satellites,” Chandana said.
India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, with the Vikram lander’s historic touchdown near the lunar South Pole, has greatly boosted the country’s space technology industry. The achievement has spurred both large conglomerates and start-ups to actively prepare for ventures in various aspects of the space sector.
Over 150 space technology start-ups are competing for a share of the space industry, with 23 companies showing interest in developing ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), and ISRO having already transferred 19 active patents to the private sector, indicating a surge in funding and collaboration within the space start-up ecosystem.
Per a study by Arthur D. Little, the country’s space industry is expected to grow to $40 billion by 2040, at a CAGR of 9.2 per cent, to reach a 4 per cent market share globally. The study further said India can do better and touch $100 billion by that year to corner 10 per cent market share.
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India’s tryst with space is not without its share of challenges. Compared with the Top 2 spacefaring powers, the US and China, the country stands at No. 7 in terms of satellites operated. It continues to depend on the West for imports of critical components for launch vehicles, spacecraft, and satellites. Furthermore, it has virtually no presence in activities such as space manufacturing, human space transport, space tourism, and high-altitude platforms and balloons. This should not come as a surprise, as the country’s space budget is merely 0.05 per cent of its GDP. In comparison, the US spends 0.25 per cent of its GDP on space.
