Launch
Astrobase Space Technologies
Bengaluru startup founded in 2024 building EVEREST, an 800 kN full-flow staged combustion methalox engine unveiled in August 2026 with no full-scale firing or flight yet.
Astrobase Space Technologies is a Bengaluru company founded in 2024 to build reusable launch vehicles around a single hard bet: a liquid-oxygen and liquid-methane engine running the full-flow staged combustion cycle, an architecture that has left the ground on exactly one rocket anywhere, SpaceX's Starship.
Its co-founders are Neeraj Khandelwal, who co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX and now serves as chief executive, and Devakumar Thammisetty, a former ISRO propulsion engineer. Entrackr reported in July 2025 that Khandelwal had partnered with senior ISRO scientists Thammisetty, Pawan Kumar and Prashant M, and that a seed round led by BanyanCo closed at $10 million after the outlet had first put the same round at Rs 60 crore, or $7 million.
The engine is named EVEREST, and Astrobase unveiled a fully integrated 80-tonne-class unit on 7 August 2026 before an audience that included Rajeev Jyoti of IN-SPACe's technical directorate, Indian Space Association director general Lt Gen A. K. Bhatt, and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. The company states 800 kilonewtons of vacuum thrust, throttling between 50 and 110 per cent, and 3D-printed core components; Swarajya reported chamber pressure above 300 bar, Republic World a specific impulse near 340 seconds, and ETV Bharat a design life beyond 100 reuses with a production target of 50 engines a year. No full-scale firing accompanied the reveal. Sub-scale hot-fire testing ran in September 2025 and high-speed turbopump trials in January 2026, leaving full-scale ground tests still ahead at the 21.5-acre propulsion site at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh.
The vehicle itself is described but not named on the company's product page: a two-stage LOX-methane launcher carrying 8 tonnes to a 200 km low Earth orbit behind a 4-metre fairing and returning to the launch site, with seven EVEREST engines clustered beneath it. Entrackr reported three planned configurations, fully expendable, partly reusable and fully reusable, spanning 3 to 10 tonnes of payload, and a target price of $300 per kilogramme by 2034. The money behind that is modest against the goal. Alongside the BanyanCo seed round, IN-SPACe selected Astrobase in June 2026 under its Technology Adoption Fund, which meets up to 60 per cent of project cost to a ceiling of Rs 25 crore, one of three awards made from 43 applications.
Nothing has flown, and the schedule is contested. ETV Bharat and Republic World reported a maiden orbital flight in December 2028, Swarajya reported 2029, and the company's own roadmap lists a hop test in 2027 and an inaugural orbital launch in 2028. In July 2026 Swarajya published the first sustained technical scrutiny of the programme, reporting that almost everything written about Astrobase read like a press release, that a sub-scale firing and turbopump runs remain a long way from a flight-rated engine, and that the Soviet RD-270 reached a comparable stage in the 1960s before combustion instability defeated it. The same piece put Astrobase's attempt at roughly a hundredth of what SpaceX and Blue Origin spent on their own engines.
What they build and operate
- EVEREST · Engine · In development
80-tonne-class full-flow staged combustion engine burning liquid oxygen and liquid methane, rated by the company at 800 kN vacuum thrust and 50 to 110 per cent throttling; unveiled fully integrated on 7 August 2026 with full-scale hot-fire testing still ahead.[10][3][5][4] - Two-stage reusable launcher · Launch vehicle · In development
Two-stage LOX-methane vehicle described on the company product page as carrying 8 tonnes to a 200 km low Earth orbit behind a 4-metre fairing and returning to the launch site, with seven EVEREST engines clustered beneath it.[10][3][5]
Funding
- July 2025 · Seed
$10 million led by BanyanCo, at a valuation Entrackr estimated at about Rs 623 crore — BanyanCo[1] - 10 June 2026 · IN-SPACe Technology Adoption Fund award
Up to 60 per cent of project cost, capped at Rs 25 crore[7][3][11]
Milestones
- 2024
Founded in Bengaluru by Neeraj Khandelwal and Devakumar Thammisetty to develop reusable launch vehicles around a full-flow staged combustion methalox engine.[3][9][12] - July 2025
Entrackr reported a BanyanCo-led seed round of $10 million at an estimated valuation of about Rs 623 crore, having first reported the same round at Rs 60 crore, or $7 million.[1] - September 2025
Completed a first sub-scale hot-fire test of the full-flow staged combustion engine, according to Swarajya.[2][3] - 24 December 2025
Announced completion of its first igniter hot-fire test.[11] - 12 January 2026
Announced successful testing of high-speed turbopumps, a step Swarajya also dated to January 2026.[11][2] - 30 March 2026
Announced the arrival of what the company called India's largest industrial 3D printer at its Bengaluru factory.[11][3] - 12 May 2026
Signed a partnership framework with Italy's Impulso Space at Space Meetings Veneto in Venice, its first European commercial agreement, during an IN-SPACe-led delegation of nine Indian firms.[11][8] - 10 June 2026
Selected under IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund, one of three firms chosen from 43 applications for support capped at Rs 25 crore.[11][7][3] - 10 July 2026
Swarajya published the first sustained technical scrutiny of the programme, reporting that coverage of Astrobase read like press releases and that a sub-scale firing and turbopump runs remain far from a flight-rated engine.[2] - 07 August 2026
Unveiled EVEREST, a fully integrated 80-tonne-class full-flow staged combustion engine, with no full-scale hot-fire test behind it.[3][4][5][11]
Facilities
- Bengaluru assembly factory · Bengaluru, Karnataka
46,000 sq ft assembly and integration factory that Swarajya reported houses India's largest industrial metal 3D printer.[9][3] - Anantapur propulsion test facility · Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
21.5-acre rocket engine test site Swarajya reported as rated for up to 200 tonnes of thrust, where full-scale EVEREST firings are planned.[3][9]
Leadership
- Neeraj Khandelwal
Co-founder and chief executive officer (as of 08 August 2026)[6][5][12] - Devakumar Thammisetty
Co-founder and director (as of 08 August 2026)[6][12]
Sources
EntrackrExclusive: CoinDCX co-founder partners with ISRO scientists to launch Astrobase, raises $10 Mnentrackr.com
SwarajyaCan a two-year-old Indian startup build the world's hardest rocket engine?swarajyamag.com
SwarajyaBengaluru-Based Space Startup Astrobase Unveils India's First 80-Tonne Class Full Flow Staged Combustion Rocket Engineswarajyamag.com
Business TodayIndia's first 80 tonne FFSC rocket engine is coming. Here's why it's a big dealbusinesstoday.in
Republic WorldIndia's Private Space Sector Reaches New Heights as Astrobase Unveils First FFSC Rocket Engine 'EVEREST'republicworld.com
ETV BharatIndia's Private Space Push Gets A New 800 kN Rocket Engine: Meet Astrobase's EVERESTetvbharat.com
The Tech PortalIndia's space regulator selects 'Astrobase', 'SatSure' and 'TM2SPACE' for first Technology Adoption Fund allocationthetechportal.com
Awaz The VoiceIndian space-tech firms forge strategic global partnerships at Space Meetings Venetoawazthevoice.in
Astrobase Space TechnologiesOfficial site and development roadmapastrobase.in
Astrobase Space TechnologiesProduct: engine and launch vehicle specificationsastrobase.in
Astrobase Space TechnologiesNewsastrobase.in
Astrobase Space TechnologiesTeamastrobase.in
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