Startups Rewiring India’s Space Sector: Decoding India’s SpaceTech Rise
It is past time for India’s SpaceTech efforts to be confined within the walls of government and large private organizations. India’s DeepTech push in SpaceTech is now a strategic, multidimensional effort that blends advanced R&D, policy liberalization, public-private investment partnerships, and startup innovation. Over the last few years, the government’s approach to driving success in the SpaceTech sector has undergone a significant shift, with the role of private companies, including startups, becoming increasingly important. The idea is to nurture India’s private SpaceTech ecosystem, driving innovation and commercialization in the sector. The government has shown immense progress and dedication in directly backing the startups, enabling home-grown innovation, and reducing dependency on foreign tech. Before delving deep into the sector and mapping startup eminence, let’s look at the key turning points in the Indian SpaceTech sector and the emergence of startups in the last 4-5 years:
Fig. 1 Significant milestones in the Indian SpaceTech journey 2019-2024. (Source: Nasscom Insights)
From Launchpads to Low Earth Orbits to Deep Space: India’s SpaceTech Surge
The Indian SpaceTech startup ecosystem is heading towards a pivotal phase – transitioning from early-stage experimentation to global competitiveness, DeepTech leadership, and strategic geopolitical relevance. The sector is crossing the chasm wherein the startups are expanding focus beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO)-centric applications (e.g., earth observation, CubeSats, and small satellite launches) to Deep Space (e.g., long duration missions and autonomous navigation).
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Space Value Chain
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Startup
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Deep Space focused?
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Upstream
- Focus: Building, launching, and enabling space-bound assets/ systems
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Skyroot Aerospace
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Yes, indicated vision for future cis-lunar missions
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AgniKul
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No, however, long-term vision includes contributing to Deep Space
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Bellatrix Aerospace
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Yes, propulsion for interplanetary and long-duration missions
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Dhruva Space
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Yes, building scalable, customizable payload platforms
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Manastu Space
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Yes, deep space maneuvering and station-keeping capabilities
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Downstream
- Focus: Using space-derived data or infrastructure to deliver value on Earth or in space
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Pixxel
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No, however, long-term vision includes contributing to Deep Space
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SatSure
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No
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Blue Sky
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No
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GalaxEye
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No
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Kawa Space
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No
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Fig. 2 Key Indian SpaceTech startups segmented by upstream and downstream. (Source: Nasscom Insights)
With India’s Deep Space ambitions in place, the strategic positioning of Indian SpaceTech startups in the Space value chain is bound to change in the mid to long term. Currently, the private SpaceTech ecosystem is at a very nascent stage in India, and the SpaceTech ventures are being treated as high-risk and high-reward projects. Particularly those focused on Deep Space require significant upfront investment, and have long development cycles. In this scenario, not every startup will be able to overcome the funding hurdles, develop robust technology, or find a sustainable market for their solutions. The Indian SpaceTech startup landscape is currently defined by a confluence of factors, significantly shaped by India's burgeoning Deep Space ambitions.
Several key themes are driving the evolution of this sector:
- Global Commercialization and Rise of Full Stack Space Startups
Indian startups are building globally competitive products ranging from launch vehicles and satellites to space infrastructure. They are preparing themselves to compete on cost, speed, and customization. Additionally, the leaders in the sector are vouching for end-to-end capability building and evolving from offering a single product, i.e., just launch or satellite data, to full-stack services including satellite design and payload integration, custom launch services, ground station access, and data analytics. For instance, Skyroot Aerospace is one of the prominent India SpaceTech startups that has rapidly evolved from developing individual rocket components like engines and propulsion systems (focus on foundational propulsion tech and satellite launches), to launch vehicle design and testing (focus on modular and scalable launch vehicles), to building end-to-end orbital launch capabilities (focus on private launch infrastructure).
- Government Integration and India as a Space Hub
Indian SpaceTech startups are aligning with India’s National Space Mission, including Gaganyaan human space flight mission, NaviC (Navigation with Indian Constellation – India’s regional satellite navigation system) navigation expansion, and Defense project via DRDO and iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence). E.g., Dhruva Space provides integrated solutions for space-based applications, including satellites, earth stations, and launch services. Manjeera Digital Systems is another startup example pushing India’s self-reliance in SpaceTech that designs and commercially produces NavIC-enabled chipsets.
- Global Contract Wins and Export of Space Services
Indian startups are increasingly winning various international contracts related to payload integration services, i.e., services that combine various scientific or commercial instruments (payloads) with a launch vehicle or spacecraft, ensuring proper functioning in the space environment. E.g., Pixxel, an Indian spacetech startup, has secured a significant contract with NASA to provide hyperspectral Earth observation data as part of NASA's $476 million Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program. This makes Pixxel the first Indian startup to win a deal with NASA since the Indian space sector opened to private companies in 2020. Indian SpaceTech startups are enhancing global positioning via affordable launch and data services.
What’s the Missing Link for Indian SpaceTech Startups: Uncovering Inherent Gaps
While India's SpaceTech startup ecosystem is booming, especially with its deep space aspirations and government support, several internal challenges within the startups themselves hinder their ability to achieve their full potential. Especially on the parameters around Product Maturity, Innovation and Differentiation, and Business Execution, they lag global peers.
- Product Maturity – Many upstream startups are still in the R&D or pre-commercial stage with few successful launches.
- Innovation and Differentiation – Limited IP creation and related challenges. Solutions are copying the global counterparts with low clarity on cost and/ or technological advantage.
- Business Execution – The go-to-market strategies are nascent with a dependency on government, grants, and ISRO contracts.
Concluding Remarks
The Indian SpaceTech ecosystem in 2025 is maturing into a full-stack innovation landscape. Startups are no longer isolated in silos, but are plugging into both upstream and downstream segments of the Space value chain. While upstream brings engineering-heavy, long-term R&D cycles and high capex focus, downstream is characterized by more commercial-ready use cases and faster GTM cycles. In both cases, the sector remains a high-risk and long-term returns proposition. There is growing ambition towards Deep Space exploration; however, the current successes of the Indian private sector lie in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) domain. In the last 2-3 years, the funding ecosystem has scaled up with major VCs entering the space, helping Indian startups build globally competitive products ranging from launch vehicles and satellites to space infrastructure, boosting private sector investments and startup participation. In line with the above, the INR 1,000 Cr. VC fund from the government of India will serve as the bedrock of the Indian SpaceTech Startup renaissance. The fund will be strategically deployed over the next five years (2025-2030) with an aim to support 40+ startups. Though there is a strong government push, Indian SpaceTech startups must acknowledge inherent gaps and act now or remain vulnerable to future risks.
