Category: Space

  • ISRO’s Multiple Power Centers

    ISRO announced and successfully launched the GSLV-F17 mission after my last blog post. I am not claiming my blog post had any role in the launch or the success thereafter. Only, that the launch happened.

    It seems that there were efforts on to undermine ISRO by not letting it launch missions that were ready and already at Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC, Sriharikota).

    It seems that the questions raised by Madhavan Nair (in Malayalam, in English) and (perhaps) in parallel by Unions within ISRO (another story) about the privatisation of the full range of ISRO launch vehicles (PSLV and LVM3).

    This is in response to a speech given by the Chairman of IN-SPACe, Pawan Goenka –

    You will note the rocket behind him that is branded as IN-SPACe in the video. Usually rockets carry only two names – ISRO and India. The news story written by India Today actually makes it sound worse when they paraphrase him.

    This led to this clarification from him on X:

    However, going against the spirit of this separation of powers, IN-SPACe has been “productionalising” LVM3 and handing over operations of Kulasekarapattinam space port.

    This makes it look like there are multiple power centers (Pawan Goenka and Dr. V Narayanan) within the Department of Space.

    Even the release of this clarification by the Chairman, IN-SPACe makes it look like the Secretary of Department of Space cannot speak for himself or that Goenka has a bigger say in how things are run.

    While I was writing this, another un-signed clarification came from ISRO. Again, its not clear from whom within ISRO is this statement from. Is it from the Public Relations Officer, the ISRO Chairman, the Secretary, Department of Space, the Chairman, IN-SPACe?

    India’s private sector has its own growth trajectory to follow. While there have been successes – these are too small and will not help in missions of national importance. ISRO must be allowed to pursue those missions at the minimum until the private sector can develop its own prowess.

    I feel that the private sector is at least a decade away from developing that prowess. At the very least, wait till they can deliver three missions demonstrating this prowess.

    For this, the institutions within the Department of Space must work. The direction for this must come from the top – the Indian Parliament. We have a love for working in legal grey areas but we do not have any way to protect the ecosystem when the system implodes.

  • What ails the Space Sector today?

    Arun Raj K M whose articles and videos I have linked to here, earlier, has written an article that is a follow-up to the interview he did with former ISRO Chairman, Madhavan Nair. Google Translate gives a decent English translation of the article.

    The lack of clarity between the three important pillars of the Department of Space – the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO – the science and technology lab), the New Space India Ltd. (NSIL – the commercial arm), and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe, the regulator of the non-governmental entities).

    Internally, there may be clarity about each entity’s role. But, externally, the signals are mixed.

    ISRO had two back to back failures of the workhorse PSLV. This led to a lot of internal boards being created to investigate the failures. Even the National Security Advisor got involved. ISRO seems to be ready with satellites and launch vehicles. But, it does not seem to have got the nod to launch.

    In the past, an internal Launch Authorisation Board after consulting with the Space Commission would give these nods. IN-SPACe is not believed to have a say in giving nods for ISRO launches. But, there is no clarity if they are now involved. When the article says that the government has not given a nod, we have no idea about which arm of the government is giving the nod.

    The less said about NSIL, the better. An announcement calling for the post of a head for NSIL was floated in August 2025. It still does not have a head for the past 5 months.

    IN-SPACe has a really clear mandate, posted on their own website. But, it’s chief has recently being doing the work that NSIL should be doing. They made a call for productionalize LVM3 and for handing over operations of Kulashekarapatinam to the private sector. This has given rise to speculation that there is a power struggle between Pawan Goenka and Dr. V Narayanan.

    There was no mention of Narayanan in the programme published for National Space Day celebrations.

    Missions of national importance are falling behind – remote sensing satellites, communication satellites, navigation satellites, scientific missions, and building national capability in launch vehicles and satellite technologies.

    Despite recent demonstrations by Skyroot and upcoming technical demonstration missions from space start-ups, I don’t think they are in a position to replace the whole gamut of missions that ISRO used to run and operate.

    In my estimation, they may be a decade away from that capability. They may be two decades away from the capability to replace the services that ISRO offers to the nation today.

    I also agree with what Madhavan Nair said in the interview. We need a clear division of labour within the Department of Space. The Space Activities Bill could bring that if drafted well. We need the Space Commission to be the top space body in the country until the Space Activities Bill can be drafted and passed in Parliament.

  • Madhavan Nair on what ails ISRO

    Former ISRO Chairman, Madhavan Nair on what ails ISRO in this Malayalam interview.

    This is an important reality check. We don’t have enough people speaking up like this in current leadership.

  • HEX20 Profile on Asianet News

    Arun Raj K M did a nice profile of HEX20, a Kerala-based space startup.

    Here are the highlights from that story in English. These are translations made by Gemini. I’ve added a few links that could help you understand the backstories behind the names like Mayavi and Dinkan.

    1. News Anchor: Mayavi and Dinkan are the names of new satellites built by a Keralite startup. This is the next leap for HEX20, which successfully completed two CubeSat missions in a short period. Based in Thiruvananthapuram, this small startup is exploring new opportunities in the space market through the innovative concept of ‘CubeSat as a Service’.
    2. Arun Raj: Their business model helps other companies conduct in-orbit technology demonstrations using CubeSats. The satellite bus (chassis) and core technologies belong to HEX20, allowing clients to integrate their own experimental or observational payloads as needed. HEX20 opens up massive opportunities for companies aiming to execute complex space missions. Without the huge costs and complexities of building a full satellite from scratch, clients can evaluate their technology’s capabilities and refine their hardware at lower risk.
    3. HEX20 has launched two CubeSats into space so far: Nila last year, and KOYO (Kinetic Optical Yaw Observer) this past July. Both were launched aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter rideshare missions. KOYO was built for Taiwan’s National Central University.
    4. Dr. Manu Mohan (Tech Manager, HEX20): KOYO stands for ‘Kinetic Optical Yaw Observer’. It primarily carried payloads from Taiwan’s National Central University. As it orbits Earth, the satellite tumbles, so the initial payload was meant to measure its angular velocity or tumbling rate. We planned an operational lifespan of 6 months. According to UN guidelines, satellites in orbit must de-orbit within 25 years; at an altitude of 590 km, we expect it to naturally de-orbit in 5–6 years.
    5. Thomas C. Francis (Mechanical Engineer): For instance, KOYO is a 3U CubeSat measuring 300 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm. It gets deployed in space from inside a canister deployer. The first task is making sure it fits precisely into the deployer through accurate manufacturing. To withstand launcher vibrations and shocks, we conduct rigorous vibration and simulated space environment testing.
    6. Muhammed Saydali (Senior Electrical Engineer): We categorize our satellite buses into two main platforms based on mass and application: AX and NX. The NX platform accommodates satellites in the 20–50 kg range, whereas KOYO and Nila are built on the AX platform.
    7. Anamika A. Kamath (Electrical Engineer): The immediate upcoming mission is NILA-3, an In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) testing a water-steam propulsion system developed by UK-based OOMSpace. That will launch within a few months this year. Following that are Mayavi and Dinkan. MAYA-V1 stands for ‘Multi Application Yearly Assimilated Vehicle 1’, which will form a series of satellite buses. DINK-N1 stands for ‘Direct Imaging Network Node 1’ and marks our entry into the 50 kg microsatellite class. We are targeting a late 2027 launch for these.
    8. Abhijith Sureshkumar (Ground Station Engineer): HEX20’s ground station is set up at the nearby Marine Engineering College. We currently operate two ground station setups capable of handling both UHF commercial and amateur bands. Since future missions like MAYA-V1 and DINK-N1 demand higher data rates, we are expanding our ground station capabilities to support higher frequency bands.
    9. Arun Raj: While many space startups keep mission data confidential, HEX20 stands out by making real-time KOYO telemetry available to the public via koyo.hex20.space.
    10. Shinjith George (Senior Electrical Engineer): We maintain a Class 8 cleanroom suited for integrating satellites up to 30 kg. Having finished KOYO, we are currently integrating NILA-3 here. Environmental tests—such as vibration and thermal-vacuum testing—are conducted at the IN-SPACe facility in Ahmedabad.
    11. Arun Raj: Beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions, HEX20 plans to expand into deep-space missions and larger satellite platforms. Collaborative missions with international partners, including the UAE Space Agency, are also in the pipeline.

  • Salvaging Starship

    SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 is adrift in the Eastern Indian Ocean. The commentators expected it to explode but it did not. It just sat there – floating in the Ocean.

    Watch a minute of that splashdown in the video above to see how crazy this was. The ship continued to transmit on-board cameras views via Starlink after splashdown!

    Elon Musk announced that ships were going out to try and tow the ship back to port.

    Some ship watchers are now following this mission more closely. A YouTube channel called What’s Going on with Shipping? made a nice video about the challenges of an out in the ocean towing mission. As he says, the Norwegians are being sent out to sea to try and tow the ship back to port.

    I loved watching this especially since I have worked in a shipyard way back in 2011.

  • Vikram 1 Mission Aagaman Successful

    Vikram 1 lifted-off as if in a hurry from the First Launch Pad on 18 July 2026 at 12:05 PM. It cleared the launch pad and headed to orbit and placed two satellites in orbit. We now have India’s first successful launch of a launch vehicle by a non-governmental entity.

    I live-tooted on Mastodon where things remain calm. People just went crazy on X. A stream of congratulations followed.

    Before lift-off

    I have been recovering after a surgery earlier in the week. Hence, my father was also at home. I casted the webcast on YouTube on my TV. I was active on WhatsApp, Mastodon, and X.

    The webcast commentary frequently spoke over the callouts. You could hear the callouts better on the X webstream. However, I was not able to cast the X webstream on the TV.

    The lift-off reached a hold 5 minutes before lift-off scheduled for 11:30 AM. We saw that it was a Navigation Monitoring Failure hold. After a few minutes of discussions, the Automatic Launch Sequence was re-started with the lift-off time set to 12:05 PM. There were some anxious faces in the Mission Control Center.

    Countdown and Lift-off

    I breathed the first sigh of relief when the countdown went beyond the 5 minute mark. As the countdown went into 5 second call outs to each second countdown to zero, there was a great sense of being part of history.

    I felt there was a brief pause before the launch vehicle leaped off the launch pad. Lift-off and clearing the launch pad was an important launch milestone. The launch vehicle had not exploded on or off the launch pad. That was an achievement!

    The camera angle immediately after lift-off felt weird. The cheers from the Skyroot Aerospace team went over the calls for MaxQ. The graphs were textbook for the first two stages.

    There were some beautiful on-board camera views. The blue Earth just beyond the plume of the solid stage was a sight to behold.

    Trouble (that did not affect the overall launch) seems to start after the Stage III cutoff. There was a combined coast phase where the spent third stage flew with the fourth stage. When the third stage separated, it seemed to push towards the fourth stage and hit it gently.

    There seemed to be worry also when there seemed to be a temporary loss of signal from the vehicle a little after fourth stage ignition and well before satellite separation.

    It may have been because the signal switch between Indonesia and Australia or because the stage may have rolled.

    We got back to images of the Earth in the background. There was another round of celebration. More followed when the satellites separated. The indications on the screen seemed to indicate they had planned somethings that didn’t work but they skipped mentioning them until they happened.

    Payloads on-board Vikram 1 Mission Aagaman
    Dawn of a new era of private Indian rocketeers

    The image of the Sun rising over the payloads seen through the Cosmic diamond was just a goosebump-inducing experience.

    I switched off the webcast after the end of the stream with the announcement of completion of a mission. I then hung out on X asking questions and listening to answers.

    Payloads

    Grahaa Space announced that it has achieved mission objectives.

    Cosmoserve Space said that “The robotic petals which were supposed to open could not do so due to an unusual settling of the petals which might have been caused by a combination of extreme space conditions.”

    There was nothing heard about the Skyroot’s SCOPE satellite.

    There was independent confirmation of mission success by Space Force.

    Congratulations and God Speed! Skyroot Aerospace.

    The live webcast was taken down and a new trimmed video was uploaded after the Prime Minister’s mobile number leaked on the live webcast.

  • Skyroot’s Historic Launch

    I understand if you could not be a part of history in 1980.

    https://x.com/i/status/2073705836665516043

    I hope you will take the time to watch the attempt on 18 July 2026 at 11:30 am (IST). India’s launch of the first private sector-built launch vehicle from Sriharikota. Watch here.

  • Vikram 1

    Before the launch of Vikram 1, I wanted to put together what is known from various online sources about the launch vehicle and the various payloads that will fly.

    The first launch by a private launch vehicle from Indian soil is on the horizon. The latest NOTAM put out seems to point at a launch sometime after July 12 (and latest by August 4) from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota. NOTAMs can change. The first mission of Vikram 1 is the Flight Test 1 or Mission Aagaman (Arrival).

    [Update [10 July 2026]: The latest NOTAM puts the launch at after July 18.]

    Vikram 1 is a four stage launch vehicle. The first three stages are solid and the fourth stage is liquid. The first three stages are powered by the Kalam 1200, Kalam 250, and Kalam 100 engines respectively. The fourth stage is called an Orbital Adjustment Module is powered by four Raman 2 engines.

    Skyroot Aerospace has been building a launch vehicle since their first test of Kalam 5 in December 2020. Their subsequent tests tested out bigger size solid motors – the Kalam 250 in March 2024. They also worked on the liquid fuelled Raman 2 engines since July 2023.

    Visit the Skyroot Aerospace YouTube channel for some wonderful videos.

    Skyroot Aerospace’s first launch was the Vikram S. Named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai—the father of India’s space program—it successfully reached a peak altitude of 89.5 km during its historic maiden flight on November 18, 2022, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. They launched from their own launch pad.

    There have been reports in regional media about the launch as the rocket segments moved from their factory in Hyderabad to Sriharikota. The fuel that the solid stages were to be used were to be filled at ISRO Solid Propellant Plant (SPP) at Sriharikota.

    Skyroot announced the payloads on 6 July 2026.

    Dcubed (Deployables Cubed GmbH) is a German NewSpace hardware manufacturer headquartered near Munich, specializing in in-space manufacturing and deployable space technologies. They are widely known for producing high-performance micro-actuators, release nuts, launch locks, and deployable solar arrays designed to maximize payload power while minimizing launch volume. Dcubed plans to demonstrate its proprietary space hardware technologies: the uD3PP (micro Dcubed Pin Puller) and the mD3RN (micro Dcubed Release Nut).

    Grahaa Space (legally registered as zSpaze Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) is a prominent Bengaluru-based Indian spacetech startup focused on Earth observation. Founded by former ISRO scientist Dr. Loganathan Muthuswamy and ex-IBM/Dell executive Ramesh Kumar V, the company is building an advanced constellation of nano-satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) designed to stream near-real-time, high-resolution geospatial video data.

    Their first mission, Solaras S2 which flew on South Korea’s HANBIT-NANO operated by Innospace launched on December 23, 2025, from the Alcântara Space Center in Brazil due to a launch failure. This is their next mission.

    Cosmoserve Space is an emerging Indian space technology startup specialized in Active Debris Removal (ADR) and space sustainability. Founded in 2025 by former ISRO scientist Chiranjeevi Phanindra, the company is headquarted in Hyderabad. They are developing autonomous, robotic spacecraft designed to safely de-orbit dead satellites and dangerous orbital clutter.

    The founders page on the Cosmoserve website puts Skyroot’s founder Pawan Chandana as a Founding Partner. Pawan gets to play a role in both putting satellites in orbit and helping with their end of mission.

    Cosmoserve released their mission patch in a video on LinkedIn. Varun Guru posted a nice explainer on how the mission is expected to work on X.

    There is very little known about the satellite that Skyroot has built.

    Cosmos Diamonds is sending a lab grown orbit into space. Watch this video for more:

    I hope they also reveal the story behind the micro sculpture. I was able to find the website of the artist Ajay Kumar Mattewada.

    While the focus will primarily be on the launch vehicle, I had fun learning about these ‘payloads’ as well.

  • Wrote a Chapter in a Space Book

    I am happy to announce that my chapter, “The second Space Age is here. Where is India’s place in it?” has been published in India and The Second Space Age, a new e-book released by The Hindu Group.


    For decades, India’s space program operated strictly under the Sarabhai doctrine, focusing on frugal engineering and immediate socio-economic utility. Today, however, we are navigating the complex transition from a state-led monopoly into a hybrid ecosystem. The book brilliantly captures the rockets, rivalries, and unfinished rules of this frontier, exploring everything from the nuances of dual-use technologies to the legal ambiguities of cross-border liabilities in orbit.

    In my chapter, I take a look at how India is engineering its position within this new global landscape. I unpack our strategy: the deliberate shift where ISRO transitions into a high-end R&D engine, handing over mature, operational technologies to a maturing private sector. I explore the geopolitical implications of India’s decision to sign the Artemis Accords. By choosing this commercially driven, decentralized framework over the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), India made a strategic choice. I don’t think we signed only an Accord; we pre-qualified our private startups to plug directly into a multi-billion-dollar global supply chain.

    The e-book is available for free to digital subscribers of The Hindu Group or can be purchased on Amazon. If you are interested in the strategic intersection of deep tech, global commerce, and national policy, I highly recommend checking out the entire collection. I would love to hear your thoughts on India’s trajectory in the comments!

    Thanks to Vasudevan Mukunth for the opportunity to write. I feel great to have contributed to a work with so many great space writers and thinkers.

    I also loved the cover!

  • The PSLV-C62 Mission

    I wanted to write about this on my space newsletter but that seems to be in limbo. Hence, I am writing here.

    The launch took place on 12 January 2026 at 10:17 AM IST carrying Anvesha/EOS-N1 and multiple rideshare satellites from private space startups, academia, and international customers. The vehicle failed to reach orbit and ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.

    I did not watch the mission because I was at work. I assumed that the last failure that the PSLV faced was a minor hiccup. I assumed that the PSLV would be back to putting satellites into orbit. But, after the failure, speculation was rife on social media and in the print media with everything from sabotage to calls for sacking the ISRO Chairman.

    The above reply by @SolidBoosters2 suggesting that our intelligence agencies must be closed if this was sabotage is the best answer the people suggesting sabotage. I think the current ISRO Chairman should stay and lead the transition from solid fuel to liquid fuel launch vehicles which we are doing from PSLV, GSLV, and LVM3 to NGLV, given his experience with LPSC.

    Things started going awry to the end of the third stage flight of the PSLV-C62. People spotted the tumbling PSLV on screens in mission control before the webcast went offline. One of the next PSLV flight would have been that of the industry built PSLV.

    From some of the evidence I saw, I think the the failure seems to be originating in the attitude control system.

    One of the payloads on the PSLV was the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstration (KID), which transmitted data for 190 seconds after separating from the PSLV at speeds over Mach 20, withstanding 28g loads and temperatures of 300 to 350 degrees Celsius. The KID maintained its payload at 85 degrees Celsius and its instruments measured accelerations of up to 30g, likely enduring up to 35g. Despite being a failed mission, they achieved 4 out of 5 technological milestones, which was a positive outcome.

    There were also a lot of questions about insurance taken by the startups in the private sector. There were calls for NSIL to pay the companies for the loss of payload. I think it was the companies responsibility to get insurance to protect against the financial loss. There are concerns that payload below certain payload weights are difficult to insure.

    The Failure Analysis Committee’s report on the failure of the PSLV-C61 are yet to be disclosed. It is expected that a similar fate awaits the FAC report for the PSLV-C62 as well. There are rumours that ISRO had changed the nozzle throat material from graphite to a 4D carbon-carbon. There are rumours that there were 7 Mission Readiness Reviews (MRRs) and even a test of the third stage of the PSLV which had also failed in the PSLV-C61 mission.

    I wish they follow the example laid down by Japan in terms of transparency. I didn’t have a useful, shareable link for the JAXA story. @SolidBoosters2 mentioned above does a good job with the story.

    I hope the issues with the PSLV can be fixed and it can return to flying missions again for ISRO very soon.