From a sounding rocket to radar, Gujarat making a big space leap

AHMEDABAD: A small workshop at Sanand GIDC is nestled between plants of a soft drink giant and a semiconductor major. The shed looks like one among many in the industrial estate but a visit to Om Space facility indicates the shaping up of a young team's efforts to make a reusable rocket with a retro-propulsion system developed from scratch.
While in one corner engineers and technicians are shaping the solid-state fuel for the sounding rocket in the making, in another founder and CEO Ravindra Raj BM, 31, and chief systems engineer Maulik Mota, are checking the casing made from specialized composite material for the rocket.These are the building blocks of Gujarat's space dreams, taking shape one instrument at a time.
In 2024 when India's private space sector is making one landmark after another with the launch of the first 3D printed rocket engine and test-fire of a space launch vehicle, Gujarat-based startups are also aiming for the stars.
We have our first sounding rocket, which is 2.5 meters in length and has a range of 10 km, ready. After the final engine test fire for launch later this month, we aim at sounding rocket launch in 30-45 days with permissions from authorities. While we have support and facilities from IN-SPACe, our wish is to fly the sounding rocket – the first major milestone towards full-fledged rocket launch with payload – from Gujarat,” says Ravindra, a power electronics graduate who got incubated at Cradle of Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII).
Likewise, at IIMA Ventures in Vastrapur, a unit is developing the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) which will make all-weather maritime surveillance easier. The team at PierSight has already secured USD 7mn seed funding and developed a prototype antenna. At Makarpura GIDC in Vadodara, a team of SpaceCurve are working on an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) project, and their ignitor testing will soon take place. In Rajkot, a team of Amenity Aerospace are already working on AI applications for satellite imaging and have a longterm goal of sending a micro satellite for the same.
Top sources confirmed that the state is developing its own space tech policy in consultation with stakeholders including startups and initial meetings have already been conducted.
Mukesh Kumar, principal secretary of higher and technical education, said that the state has 99 Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)-recognized startups in space, aeronautics, aerospace and defence sectors.
“Over 15 space tech startups are being supported at iHub. They are working in diverse areas such as managing reconfigurable satellite infrastructure, designing small satellite systems, developing antenna designs, and creating automated threat detection systems for long-range surveillance,” said Kumar.
iHub along with IN-SPACe, SAC-ISRO and Gujarat Knowledge Society recently organized a roundtable to understand needs for space tech startups. “It was suggested to provide focused acceleration support to go-to-market stage startups,” said Kumar.