ISRO
On Friday, Skyroot Aerospace disclosed that it had raised $51 million from a Singapore-based investor, or around Rs. 400 crore. The startup intends to use the financing to speed up its plans to launch heavy payloads into low-Earth orbit and to construct the nation’s first private space launch vehicles (SLV). It has a data and expertise exchange arrangement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and plans to begin commercial satellite launches by the middle of 2023.
The Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace announced on Friday that it has raised $51 million (approximately Rs. 400 crore) from capital investment company GIC (the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), which led its most recent round of funding, according to a Reuters article. Within a year, the company apparently hopes to reach full-fledged commercial satellite launch scale.
According to reports, Skyroot Aerospace plans to start using commercial rockets by the middle of 2023. Its SLV is believed to be made of carbon fibre and can carry payloads up to 800 kg. According to the article, the company claims to have started to reserve launch spaces.
The nation’s space had significant developments in privatisation measures back in June. According to PTI, they included the launch of the first demand-driven satellite that Tata Play had ordered and ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying payloads of two Indian space sector startups.
For the 2020–21 fiscal year, the Centre for Development Studies and Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology estimated that India’s space economy would be worth $5 billion (or around Rs. 39,860 crore).
