Isro and In-Space have signed an agreement with Vyom Space to build private spacecraft
- ByStartupStory | December 7, 2022
For its “human and cargo transportation capsule program,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and Gurugram, Haryana-based private space company Vyom Space Exploration and Services Private Limited have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU was made possible by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center, India’s official space authorization organisation (In-Space). The startup is being incubated under “JSIIC,” according to Isro. The body did not make any information regarding the incubation programme or Isro’s intended timelines publicly available.
The module that any cargo is placed within for transportation into space is referred to as a “capsule” in a space mission. The astronauts are kept inside the capsule during manned missions. With the exception of Crew Dragon, a reusable human and cargo module from US-based private space company Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the capsules have typically been single-use.
Vyom Space’s founder and CEO, Manish Kukreti, revealed to Mint that the business has thus far collaborated with European research and development (R&D) partners to develop its product.
“India is not a market that has all of the necessary space infrastructure in place, so we had to work with international partners to develop our product. Reusable capsules that can transport cargo and eventually people will be in high demand in the space industry, but only the US and China have so far been able to create one, according to Kukreti.
According to Kukreti, the business will send Isro its first prototype space capsule within the next 16 months, after which the space body will test the capsule. As he explained, “We are merely building the basic technology of the capsule itself and wouldn’t want to go into every single component of it given the large amount of expertise that Isro has in the other parts of a space trip.”
An MoU between Isro and Vyom Space was announced amid a flurry of successes for India’s private space industry. The first homegrown private space company, Skyroot Aerospace of Hyderabad, launched a rocket into space on November 18. On November 26, a week later, Pixxel and Dhruva Space launched a second batch of satellites on board the most recent commercial mission of Isro.
The company intends to launch its own rocket — and India’s first orbital private rocket — from Srihariokota, Andhra Pradesh, by the end of the year, according to Srinath Ravichandran, chief executive of Agnikul Cosmos, who spoke with Mint last week.
According to Vyom’s Kukreti, the company’s own module will be reusable and therefore an evolution of what Isro’s manned mission, Gaganyaan, will use as its first prototype module. “Gaganyaan has single-use modules only, which means they don’t have a high commercial viability. This is what we hope to provide for the missions of Isro, he said. The startup’s funding sources were kept secret, but Kukreti acknowledged that creating a spacecraft is “a very capital intensive task.” He asserted that the startup has already received “commitments” from international private investors.
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