Propulsion & spacecraft systems
Manastu Space
Navi Mumbai maker of MS289 hydrogen-peroxide thrusters; its Vyom 2U fired on ISRO's POEM-4 platform from 31 December 2024. Inc42 puts total funding at $9.00 million.
Manastu Space Technologies builds green propulsion for satellites: thrusters that run on MS289, a hydrogen peroxide and alcohol blend the company offers in place of hydrazine. Tushar Jadhav and Ashtesh Kumar, both IIT Bombay alumni, founded the company in 2017, and they remain chief executive and chief technology officer respectively; the address the company publishes is in the TTC industrial area at Pawne, Navi Mumbai. The product line runs from Sharanga, a 1 to 10 mN thruster for 3U to 10U CubeSats, through the 1.1 N Vyom 2U and the 0.5 N and 1 N I-Booster for satellites of 100 to 500 kg, up to GP-LAM, a 300 N liquid apogee module aimed at launch-vehicle upper stages and orbital transfer vehicles.
The hardware reached orbit at the end of 2024. On 31 December 2024 Vyom 2U fired for the first time aboard ISRO's PSLV-C60 POEM-4 platform, on a mission the company calls Adyanta, tilting the 1,408-kg platform by 24 degrees. Manastu says the thruster went on to complete more than 700 seconds of cumulative firing in orbit, including a 360-second continuous burn and more than 20 restarts across a stay of over two months, and that the flight took Vyom 2U to TRL-8. Twenty days before that first firing, on 11 December 2024, the company handed its I-Booster green propulsion system to the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which had backed four years of the development through its Technology Development Fund.
The commercial record starts outside India. The company's own timeline dates its first commercial contract to 2022, a GP-LAM 300 N thruster for the French launch company Latitude, and when Payload reported the pre-Series A round in September 2023 it listed Latitude alongside an Indian defence agency and the iDEX defence innovation group as customers. Sharanga, the CubeSat-class thruster, completed qualification testing at the IN-SPACe facility in Ahmedabad under iDEX during 2025.
Capital has arrived in small increments. A $3 million pre-Series A closed in September 2023 with Capital 2B, BIG Capital and E2MC. The next raise did not come until August 2025 and was again $3 million, led by Capital-A: the company's own timeline labels it a bridge to Series A, while Analytics India Magazine reported it as an extended Series A. Inc42's company profile puts the total at $9.00 million across five rounds and lists revenue of ₹2.0 Cr+ in FY25, a decrease of 12.3% from FY24 (₹2.3 Cr), alongside a headcount of 111. The company dates the start of its research to 2016, and the POEM-4 demonstration remains the only in-orbit firing on its published timeline.
What they build and operate
- Vyom 2U · Engine · Operational
Green monopropellant thruster of 1.1 N with 1700 N-s total impulse, 2.75 kg wet, running on MS289; the company claims TRL-8 status after firing on the POEM-4 platform.[9][4] - I-Booster · Engine · In development
Thruster module rated at 0.5 N and 1 N with 20,000 N-s total impulse on MS289, aimed at 100-500 kg satellites for orbit raising, station-keeping and deorbiting; delivered to DRDO on 11 December 2024.[10][3] - GP-LAM · Engine · In development
Modular green liquid apogee module of 300 N at beginning of life with 150,000 Ns total impulse, offered for launch-vehicle upper stages, orbital transfer vehicles and geostationary satellites; the company says it was its first commercial contract, for the French company Latitude.[11][6][1] - Sharanga · Engine · In development
The company lists a milli-newton thruster of 1 to 10 mN with 500 N-s total impulse and about 150 s specific impulse for 3U to 10U and larger CubeSats, for orbit phasing, collision avoidance, formation control and de-orbit.[12][8] - MS289 · Component · Operational
Proprietary green monopropellant blending hydrogen peroxide with alcohol, offered as a replacement for hydrazine across the company's thruster range.[8][9][1]
Funding
- September 2023 · Pre-Series A
$3 million — Capital 2B, BIG Capital, E2MC[1][7] - August 2025 · Bridge to Series A, reported as an extended Series A
$3 million — Capital-A, Capital 2B, Indian Angel Network, E2MC, Deepak Bhagnani family office, Jeet Chandan[2][7]
Milestones
- 2017
Tushar Jadhav and Ashtesh Kumar, alumni of IIT Bombay, founded the company after starting green propulsion research the year before.[4][5][7] - 2019
Took the Judges' Special Prize at S-Booster 2019 in Japan, according to the timeline the company publishes.[7] - 2020
Won a Defence Research and Development Organisation contract under the Dare to Dream award, according to the company's timeline.[7] - 2022
Signed what the company calls its first commercial contract, developing the GP-LAM 300 N thruster for the French launch company Latitude.[7][11][1] - September 2023
Closed a $3 million pre-Series A round backed by Capital 2B, BIG Capital and E2MC.[1] - 11 December 2024
Delivered the I-Booster green propulsion system to the Defence Research and Development Organisation after four years of development supported by DRDO's Technology Development Fund.[3][10] - 31 December 2024
Vyom 2U fired for the first time in orbit on ISRO's PSLV-C60 POEM-4 platform, on the mission the company calls Adyanta, tilting the 1,408-kg platform by 24 degrees.[9][4] - 2025
Reported that Vyom 2U reached TRL-8 after more than 700 seconds of cumulative in-space firing, including a 360-second continuous burn and more than 20 restarts.[9][7] - 2025
Completed qualification testing of the Sharanga thruster at the IN-SPACe facility in Ahmedabad under the iDEX programme, according to the timeline the company publishes.[7][12] - August 2025
Raised a further $3 million led by Capital-A — a round the company's timeline labels a bridge to Series A and Analytics India Magazine reported as an extended Series A, two years after the pre-Series A.[2][7]
Facilities
- Navi Mumbai works · Pawne, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
Address the company publishes for itself: 6/7, Plot No. C, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC Industrial Area, Pawne, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400703.[8][7]
Leadership
- Tushar Jadhav
Co-founder and chief executive officer (as of 13 August 2025)[2][7] - Ashtesh Kumar
Co-founder and chief technology officer (as of August 2026)[7][5]
Sources
PayloadManastu Space Closes $3M Pre-Series Apayloadspace.com
Analytics India MagazineManastu Space Raises $3 Mn to Boost Sustainable Space Technologiesanalyticsindiamag.com
Mathrubhumi EnglishDRDO gets India's first eco-friendly propulsion for safer satellite operations | WATCHenglish.mathrubhumi.com
Current Affairs Usthadian AcademyManastu Space's Green Propulsion Breakthrough: India's Sustainable Leap into the Starsusthadian.com
Inc42Manastu Space - Company Profile & Overviewinc42.com
satsearchManastu Space Technologiessatsearch.co
Manastu SpaceAboutmanastuspace.com
Manastu SpaceOfficial sitemanastuspace.com
Manastu SpaceVyom 2Umanastuspace.com
Manastu SpaceI-Boostermanastuspace.com
Manastu SpaceGP-LAMmanastuspace.com
Manastu SpaceSharangamanastuspace.com
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