Manufacturing & industry
Godrej Aerospace
Mumbai manufacturer of ISRO's Vikas engines and CE20 thrust chambers, which delivered the first human-rated L110 stage engine for Gaganyaan in November 2025.
Godrej Aerospace is the space and defence manufacturing arm of Godrej Enterprises Group, working out of the Godrej & Boyce complex at Vikhroli in Mumbai. By the company's own account the work began in 1985 at the initiative of Naval P. Godrej, producing basic components for ISRO before it was entrusted with the PSLV's second-stage liquid engine by 1989. Writing in Business Standard in September 2018, Ajai Shukla reported that Godrej had delivered its first Vikas engine for the PSLV in 1994 and built more than 120 since, in a consortium with the Hyderabad firm Machine Tools Aids & Reconditioning. The Vikas burns unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide and powers the PSLV second stage, the GSLV second stage and boosters, and the L110 core stage of the LVM3.
Its signature product line sits inside India's heaviest launcher. PTI's 2023 account of private-sector work on Chandrayaan-3 credited Godrej & Boyce with manufacturing the L110 engine for the LVM3 core stage and the CE20 engine thrust chamber for the upper stage, an attribution SpaceTech Asia had already made in 2017. The company says it also supplied the Vikas engine, thrusters and remote-sensing and ground-station antenna parts for Chandrayaan-1, and the L110 and CE20 engines plus orbiter and lander thrusters for Chandrayaan-2. That mission did not end well: the Vikram lander crashed on 6 September 2019 after what ISRO's failure analysis committee concluded was a software glitch, though the orbiter remained operational.
On 13 November 2025 Godrej delivered the first human-rated L110 stage Vikas engine to ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, hardware for the LVM3 that is to fly Gaganyaan, whose first uncrewed test flight was then planned for early 2026 and whose crewed flight is targeted for 2027. Slower work sits behind that headline. Godrej entered the cryogenic engine programme in 1993, after Russia withdrew from a technology transfer, and by its own account produced the programme's first hardware only in 2004. Shukla reported in 2018 that the company was then developing a 200-tonne semi-cryogenic booster; ISRO's semi-cryogenic SE-2000 had its first hot test terminated at 2.0 seconds because of a turbine problem in July 2023 and was still in development through 2025.
The scale of the business is easy to overstate. Shukla put Godrej Aerospace's revenue at about ₹300 crore a year in 2018, roughly 3% of Godrej & Boyce's ₹10,000 crore turnover, with much of its volume in BrahMos missile structures rather than space hardware. Reuters reported in July 2023 that the division expected about 1 billion rupees, then $12.10 million, from civil aviation in that financial year while courting suppliers to Airbus and Boeing, and the same month the company announced a ₹250 crore plant at Khalapur in Maharashtra for advanced manufacturing, assembly and integration. In May 2024 the Godrej family agreed to split the conglomerate in two, placing the aerospace business inside Godrej Enterprises Group under Jamshyd Godrej.
What they build and operate
- Vikas engine · Engine · Operational
Liquid-fuelled engine burning unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide that powers the PSLV second stage, the GSLV second stage and the LVM3's L110 core stage; Godrej delivered the first human-rated L110 stage unit in November 2025.[10][1][6] - CE20 engine thrust chamber · Component · Operational
Thrust chamber for the CE20 cryogenic upper-stage engine of the LVM3, made by Godrej alongside the launcher's core-stage engine.[4][5] - Spacecraft thrusters · Component · Operational
Thrusters for ISRO spacecraft, including those on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and lander, supplied alongside remote-sensing and ground-station antenna hardware, according to the company's own aerospace page.[15] - Semi-cryogenic booster development · Engine · In development
Development work on a 200-tonne semi-cryogenic booster reported in 2018; ISRO's SE-2000 semi-cryogenic engine was still in development through 2025.[6][11]
Milestones
- 1985
Godrej says its aerospace work began at the initiative of Naval P. Godrej, making basic components for ISRO.[15] - 1989
Entrusted, by the company's own account, with manufacturing the PSLV's second-stage liquid engine.[15] - 1993
Entered ISRO's cryogenic engine programme after Russia withdrew from a technology transfer; by the company's own account the programme's first hardware followed only in 2004.[15][6] - 1994
Delivered its first Vikas engine, for the PSLV; Business Standard reported in 2018 that more than 120 had been built since.[6] - 06 September 2019
The Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram, which flew with Godrej-supplied orbiter and lander thrusters and the L110 and CE20 engines of its launcher, crashed after a software glitch; the orbiter remained operational.[12][15] - July 2023
ISRO's first hot test of the SE-2000 semi-cryogenic engine — the class of booster Godrej was reported in 2018 to be developing — was terminated at 2.0 seconds because of a turbine problem, and the engine was still in development through 2025.[11][6] - 10 July 2023
Announced a ₹250 crore facility at Khalapur, Maharashtra for advanced manufacturing, assembly and integration.[9] - 24 August 2023
PTI's account of private-sector work on Chandrayaan-3 credited Godrej & Boyce with the L110 engine for the LVM3 core stage and the CE20 engine thrust chamber for the upper stage.[4] - 01 May 2024
The Godrej family agreed to split the conglomerate in two, placing aerospace inside Godrej Enterprises Group under Jamshyd Godrej as chairperson and managing director.[8][13] - 13 November 2025
Delivered the first human-rated L110 stage Vikas engine to ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre for the Gaganyaan crewed programme.[1][3][2]
Facilities
- Vikhroli aerospace plant · Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Manufacture of liquid rocket engines, satellite thrusters and precision aerospace components, on the campus that is also Godrej & Boyce's registered home.[6][14] - Khalapur facility · Khalapur, Maharashtra
Announced in July 2023 as a ₹250 crore plant for advanced manufacturing, assembly and integration.[9]
Leadership
- Maneck Behramkamdin
Executive vice-president and business head, aerospace (as of 13 November 2025)[1] - Jamshyd Godrej
Chairperson and managing director, Godrej Enterprises Group (as of 01 May 2024)[8][13]
Sources
ThePrintGodrej delivers first human-rate L110 stage Vikas engine to ISROtheprint.in
GKTodayGodrej Delivers Human-Rated Vikas Engine for Gaganyaangktoday.in
Indian MastermindsMake in India at Its Peak: Godrej Aerospace Delivers First Human-Rated L110 Vikas Engine to ISRO for Mission Gaganyaanindianmasterminds.com
ThePrintPrivate sector contribution to Chandrayaan-3 missiontheprint.in
SpaceTech AsiaAll about ISRO's GSLV Mk III's cryogenic upper stage enginespacetechasia.com
BroadswordGodrej & Boyce's journey from locks and safes to rockets and missilesajaishukla.com
ThePrintIndia's Godrej Aerospace expects $12.1 million in civil aviation revenuetheprint.in
ThePrintIndia's Godrej family agrees to split conglomerate into twotheprint.in
Passionate In MarketingGodrej Aerospace Empowers India's Space Exploration and Civil Aviation Sector with Indigenous Manufacturingpassionateinmarketing.com
WikipediaVikas (rocket engine)en.wikipedia.org
WikipediaSE-2000en.wikipedia.org
WikipediaChandrayaan-2en.wikipedia.org
WikipediaGodrej Enterprises Groupen.wikipedia.org
WikipediaGodrej & Boyceen.wikipedia.org
Godrej Enterprises GroupAerospacegodrejenterprises.com
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