Ushering in startups’ space age

Gujarat nurturing local startups, attracting firms, investors 2024 is turning out to be a landmark year for space tech startups in India, TOI’s Parth Shastri looks at the Gujarat scenario and finds several dreams taking wings slowly but steadily.
At Sanand, the Motown of Gujarat and the new hub of semiconductors with Micron setting up its plant, a new sector is emerging.A look at Om Space facility in Sanand GIDC will reveal a full-scale sounding rocket of 2.5 metres in height.
“One may remember that India’s space journey also started under Dr Vikram Sarabhai with such sounding rockets to understand trajectory, calculations and avionics. For us, too, it is the first step towards developing the Infinity One rocket, which will have a height of 21 metres,” says Ravindra Raj B M, founder and CEO of Om Space. “We have successfully test-fired a rocket ignition system and the next will be firing the sounding rocket to test software, coordination and hardware specifics. We are very hopeful of test-firing from the soil of Gujarat itself if all goes according to the plan.”
While Gujarat and particularly Ahmedabad is an integral part of India’s space journey so far through Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and Space Applications Centre (Sac) of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), it is the new-age space technology startups that are eager to carry forward the legacy.
Ahmedabad has a long road to cover compared to Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad in the sector, but the presence of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) in the city has invigorated the startups and industries alike with its recently opened testing facilities and clean rooms for a wide range of experiments for instruments and payload components.
According to the Startup India database, Gujarat is home to 15-odd registered startups related to space tech. Experts, however, put the number on the higher side with several startups registered elsewhere and having facilities in the state.
PierSight, an Ahmedabad-based startup focused on maritime monitoring, earlier this year became one of the Indian startups in the sector with the highest seed funding of $7 million.
A payload developed by them will be one of the eight to 10 payloads aboard Isro’s PSLV Orbital Experiment Module (POEM). The prototype of SAR is truly Amdavadi with its carbon composite material made at Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA), PCB manufactured at a city-based unit and equipment tested at IN-SPACe and incubated at IIMA Ventures.
“The prototype is designed to be packed in a folding position which would open in three parts to create the full panel where each part of the surface will work as a small radar for better imaging. The final product by PierSight will have a span of 2 metres,” said Gaurav Seth, cofounder and CEO of PierSight.
Experts point out that the sector is capitaland technology-intensive which works as a major entry barrier. According to industry estimates, right from concept and validation to actual launch, it may take five to 10 years for a startup.
Thus, initial guidance and handholding become crucial, added experts. For centres like Ahmedabad, however, the advantage lies in the ecosystem of Isro-Sac and educational research institutes.
Atul Mahitkar, owner of a city-based unit specializing in hybrid circuits and assembly of micro and nanostructures for payloads, was primarily working with Isro so far.
“Today, I am supplying components to several startups, which have opened new opportunities in terms of design and applications. Gujarat’s strength lies in its MSMEs and a strong supply chain. I am confident that along with the rise in startups, a matching ecosystem will also form in clusters,” he said. The national data for IN-SPACe showed that out of the 360 applicants for space tech projects, 43% were startups, 25% were industry, 16% MSMEs and 9% academia.
Other pillars of the ecosystem are incubators and investors. IIMA Ventures was among the early movers in the sector with support to names like Manastu, Bellatrix, Galaxeye, PierSight, Agnikul and Guerin.
“The sector has come up in the past five to seven years. In the earlier phase, we saw startups related to hardware — dealing with propulsion systems, launch vehicles, alternative fuels, and so on. Lately, we have also been seeing a combination of hardware and software — analytics for satellite data and payload designing companies,” said a senior IIMA Ventures official.