Low-Earth orbit satellites are all the rage, with tens of thousands planned for launch by private companies as well as governments around the world, particularly the United States. One Indian space rocket startup is eyeing this opportunity to launch its own business into a new orbit never before seen by any private space company in the country. Skyroot Aerospace made a small piece of Indian space startup history earlier this month when it announced $51 million in funding from Singapore’s GIC (Government Investment Corporation).
Mayank Rawat, managing director of GIC India Direct Investment Group, will join Skyroot’s Board as part of the investment.
That is by far the most funding received by any Indian space startup. According to Tracxn, a private markets intelligence provider, satellite maker Pixxel, which is also based in Bengaluru, raised $28 million in a round in 2021 and an undisclosed amount in August 2022. Pixxel raised $25 million from Canadian firm Radical Ventures.
First commercial rocket of Skyroot
The funds will enable Skyroot founders Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka — and their 200-person team — to commercialise their first rocket, Vikram I, in 2023, increase the frequency of launches, and then accelerate the development of two heavier rockets in this series, Vikram II and III.
“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,” Chandana said.
“Our goal is to become the best-in-class launch services provider and go-to destination for affordable and reliable small satellite launches,” he added.
Skyroot is still taking 4-6 months to build a single rocket. The goal is to eventually be able to offer one launch per month to customers, and eventually one per week.
Skyroot’s Vikram rockets are made entirely of carbon fibre and can carry up to 800 kg of payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
According to McKinsey, the growing popularity of low earth orbit satellites is due to lower launch costs for this orbit than for geosynchronous or medium-Earth orbits, allowing more companies and nations access to space. LEO can also accommodate smaller, cheaper spacecraft.
