Indian Space Industry : Updates & Discussions
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Bellatrix Aerospace: Reimagining space mobility and satellites-as-a-service
Having persevered for a decade, Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam are on the cusp of breaking out Bellatrix Aerospace as an important spacetech venture from India.
BY HARICHANDAN ARAKALI, Forbes India Staff
Mar 21, 2024, 05:56:54 PM IST
Yashas Karanam (right), and Rohan Ganapathy of Bellatrix Aerospace. Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India.
More than 10 years ago, a letter from the late Abdul Kalam touched off an entrepreneurial journey for Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam that became Bellatrix Aerospace, which last year launched its first tech demonstrator in-space propulsion system.
Bellatrix wasn’t named for the evil character in the Harry Potter series. “We named it after the star in the constellation Orion. That’s where we want to head, maybe say 500 years from now,” Ganapathy says.
In 2012, still in college, his initial goal was to do something that would get him a seat in one of the Ivy League universities. He’d been inspired by a visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in the US and a chance to meet Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Back home, he teamed up with two juniors at college to build an engine that would run on water as a propellant. They didn’t have the money, and weren’t able to raise any. When a well-wisher brought word to Kalam about Ganapathy and his interest in spacetech, the former president asked to meet him.
Kalam couldn’t help with money, but he wrote them a recommendation letter, in 2013, which opened doors. JSW Steel offered a grant of ₹20 lakh, which allowed them to rent a garage and work on their project after college into the wee hours of the morning.
Karanam was Ganapathy’s friend, their families knew each other, and his interest in entrepreneurship was complementary. In 2015, Ganapathy’s project to build a prototype engine that used water as a propellant worked, and it was the year they incorporated Bellatrix officially as a private limited company.
“We have four classes of engines which can cater to satellites ranging from 10 kg all the way up to 5,000 kg,” Ganapathy says. These thrusters are based on the ‘Hall effect’, named after the 19th-century physicist Edwin H Hall, whose work on the effect of magnetic fields on electrons, eventually led to this technology.
While national space agencies such as NASA and ISRO are more interested in such thrusters for large satellites and deep-space applications, Ganapathy and Karaman decided they can also build smaller engines that can be fitted to smaller satellites operating closer to Earth.
They have developed Hall effect thrusters specifically for small satellites, which weigh in the 100 kg to 200 kg range. And a second category, called microwave plasma thrusters, which use water as a propellant, is on offer for satellites which weigh above 1000 kg. Bellatrix is also working on a non-toxic green rocket propellant, which is in the qualification stage.
Hall thrusters are well known, initially developed by the Russians in the early 70s. Many advances have happened since then, and “what we have done is we have miniaturised it so that it can fit into even a 50 kg satellite,” Ganapathy says.
Building them, however, involves sourcing components like valves, tanks, electronics, other subsystems, and auxiliary systems which needed to be imported, and added wait times of 12-14 months. Therefore, the entrepreneurs decided to completely vertically integrate. Today, Bellatrix has one of Asia’s biggest space simulation facilities as well, set up within the campus of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
“Now our indigenisation content is around 84 percent. And what sets us apart is, from the date of order, we can deliver a space qualified propulsion system in less than four months,” Ganapathy says.
Karanam adds that external factors are also contributing to the growth of the private space industry in India today. Important milestones include the announcement of India’s New Space Policy in April 2023, which also deemed IN-SPACe as a regulatory agency.
And, over the years, India becoming party to most of the important multilateral treaties that govern the sale and export of dual-use technologies, is also a significant factor.
A team of engineers assembles an electric engine for satellites at the Bellatrix Aerospace lab in Bengaluru.
Private space sector
The global space industry is undergoing an important shift, from the traditional government-led programs to a mix of actors, led more by private companies, a report on the sector by Arthur D Little, a multinational management consultancy, noted in July 2023.
The nascent space-tech startup ecosystem in India, helped by the liberalized space economy rules and supported by ISRO, is an example of this shift. And, with the right initiatives, India could tap this shift to go from a $8 billion space economy to $100 billion by 2040, according to the consultancy.
Over the last two decades, India has launched 381 satellites for 34 countries, making it a preferred destination for satellite launches worldwide, ADL notes.
On the startup front, Indian space tech entrepreneurs are building private space launch vehicles, satellites carrying hyperspectral imaging cameras and satellite-based data services for a range of sectors from agriculture to mining. The government has invested $112 million in funding for new-age space startups in the country, according to ADL.
The Indian space market, valued at $8 billion, has a CAGR of 4 percent, outpacing the global average of 2 percent, according to ADL. The government’s estimate is that India’s space economy could reach $40 billion by 2040.
Strategic imperatives
In June, India also joined the Artemis Accords, a multilateral space initiative led by the US, with the initial objective of sending humans back to the Moon.
“In the long term, sooner rather than later, India would have had to kind of hedge its bets, ensuring that we too would benefit from whatever comes out of deep space exploration,” Narayan Prasad, co-founder and COO of Satsearch, a space industry marketplace provider, and co-founder of Spaceport SARABHAI, an Indian space economy think tank, told Forbes India earlier. “There is always going to be a strategic angle to all of this because in the end, we should never get away from not being self-reliant.”
Even countries like Australia that were dependent on the US for a long time have started creating their space programmes, allocating their own budgets, and India, which has already done that, has a lead, he points out. “Now it’s just a question of how much further we want to go. It comes down to how much Indian policymakers are willing to invest in space to either do it independently or to do it with other countries.”
China, for example, has 500 active satellites today, compared to India’s 50. The Chinese have about 40 to 50 space launches a year, whereas India does it four to five times. And that comes down to the Chinese GDP having grown about six times to that of India, he says.
India is currently “stuck” at around ₹10,000-12,000 crore a year in space exploration expenses, he says. However, with the economic growth, if the space investments’ share as a proportion of the GDP remains or is even raised a bit, then as India doubles its economy if the space industry investments also double to around ₹25,000 crore, then many more space missions could be funded, he says.
At Bellatrix, the entrepreneurs were “one of the first movers from India to knock on doors and get people to look at funding the space sector and policy change”, Karanam says, “and get them to believe that there are private companies capable of building their own product lines, which have global interest.”
“From a business perspective we are trying to compete and position ourselves in a global market in such a way that we are ahead of the curve even when you compare us with some of the leaders in the segment in US and Europe,” he says.
“It’s not just technology, but also the supply chain and the cost aspects. How Elon Musk looked at the rocket industry, I think we are doing something like that for in-space mobility.”
Satellite as a service
To that effect, Bellatrix wants to go beyond making thrusters, to offer what they call “space taxis” to satellite OEMs and operators. “We have transitioned to a space mobility company,” Karanam says. They’re developing strong capabilities to “build the satellites and take say 10 customers on board, like an Uber pool”.
“So we take 10 customers on a single rocket, but 10 customers each have 10 locations to board or 10 orbits. We’ll be able to separately inject them at their orbits. So that’s how we have evolved.”
They have signed some early contracts to sell thrusters and feedback has been good both in India and overseas, Karanam says. Today, Bellatrix is a team of about 100 engineers.
There’s one other innovation with their space taxi idea. “The same space taxi can also function as a dedicated satellite,” Ganapathy points out. This would allow customers to focus on their core payload—like an imaging system or a communications system—and not worry about building a satellite around that payload.
Once the space taxi deploys various payloads to their intended orbits, it can still function as a satellite to host another payload and post-deployment, the ownership can be transferred to the customer. In other words, satellites as a service.
Bellatrix last raised about $8 million in Series A funding, in 2022, from investors, including BASF Venture Capital, Inflexor and Pavestone Capital, taking its total to about $11.3 million.
The founders are now actively in talks for more investments, as they plan to build a futuristic factory, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. By 2026, they expect their R&D to hit steady state, and commercial activity to take off.
Bellatrix Aerospace: Reimagining Space Mobility And Satellites-as-a-service - Forbes India
Having persevered for a decade, Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam are on the cusp of breaking out Bellatrix Aerospace as an important spacetech venture from India.
BY HARICHANDAN ARAKALI, Forbes India Staff
Mar 21, 2024, 05:56:54 PM IST
Yashas Karanam (right), and Rohan Ganapathy of Bellatrix Aerospace. Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India.
More than 10 years ago, a letter from the late Abdul Kalam touched off an entrepreneurial journey for Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam that became Bellatrix Aerospace, which last year launched its first tech demonstrator in-space propulsion system.
Bellatrix wasn’t named for the evil character in the Harry Potter series. “We named it after the star in the constellation Orion. That’s where we want to head, maybe say 500 years from now,” Ganapathy says.
In 2012, still in college, his initial goal was to do something that would get him a seat in one of the Ivy League universities. He’d been inspired by a visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in the US and a chance to meet Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Back home, he teamed up with two juniors at college to build an engine that would run on water as a propellant. They didn’t have the money, and weren’t able to raise any. When a well-wisher brought word to Kalam about Ganapathy and his interest in spacetech, the former president asked to meet him.
Kalam couldn’t help with money, but he wrote them a recommendation letter, in 2013, which opened doors. JSW Steel offered a grant of ₹20 lakh, which allowed them to rent a garage and work on their project after college into the wee hours of the morning.
Karanam was Ganapathy’s friend, their families knew each other, and his interest in entrepreneurship was complementary. In 2015, Ganapathy’s project to build a prototype engine that used water as a propellant worked, and it was the year they incorporated Bellatrix officially as a private limited company.
“We have four classes of engines which can cater to satellites ranging from 10 kg all the way up to 5,000 kg,” Ganapathy says. These thrusters are based on the ‘Hall effect’, named after the 19th-century physicist Edwin H Hall, whose work on the effect of magnetic fields on electrons, eventually led to this technology.
While national space agencies such as NASA and ISRO are more interested in such thrusters for large satellites and deep-space applications, Ganapathy and Karaman decided they can also build smaller engines that can be fitted to smaller satellites operating closer to Earth.
They have developed Hall effect thrusters specifically for small satellites, which weigh in the 100 kg to 200 kg range. And a second category, called microwave plasma thrusters, which use water as a propellant, is on offer for satellites which weigh above 1000 kg. Bellatrix is also working on a non-toxic green rocket propellant, which is in the qualification stage.
Hall thrusters are well known, initially developed by the Russians in the early 70s. Many advances have happened since then, and “what we have done is we have miniaturised it so that it can fit into even a 50 kg satellite,” Ganapathy says.
Building them, however, involves sourcing components like valves, tanks, electronics, other subsystems, and auxiliary systems which needed to be imported, and added wait times of 12-14 months. Therefore, the entrepreneurs decided to completely vertically integrate. Today, Bellatrix has one of Asia’s biggest space simulation facilities as well, set up within the campus of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
“Now our indigenisation content is around 84 percent. And what sets us apart is, from the date of order, we can deliver a space qualified propulsion system in less than four months,” Ganapathy says.
Karanam adds that external factors are also contributing to the growth of the private space industry in India today. Important milestones include the announcement of India’s New Space Policy in April 2023, which also deemed IN-SPACe as a regulatory agency.
And, over the years, India becoming party to most of the important multilateral treaties that govern the sale and export of dual-use technologies, is also a significant factor.
A team of engineers assembles an electric engine for satellites at the Bellatrix Aerospace lab in Bengaluru.
Private space sector
The global space industry is undergoing an important shift, from the traditional government-led programs to a mix of actors, led more by private companies, a report on the sector by Arthur D Little, a multinational management consultancy, noted in July 2023.
The nascent space-tech startup ecosystem in India, helped by the liberalized space economy rules and supported by ISRO, is an example of this shift. And, with the right initiatives, India could tap this shift to go from a $8 billion space economy to $100 billion by 2040, according to the consultancy.
Over the last two decades, India has launched 381 satellites for 34 countries, making it a preferred destination for satellite launches worldwide, ADL notes.
On the startup front, Indian space tech entrepreneurs are building private space launch vehicles, satellites carrying hyperspectral imaging cameras and satellite-based data services for a range of sectors from agriculture to mining. The government has invested $112 million in funding for new-age space startups in the country, according to ADL.
The Indian space market, valued at $8 billion, has a CAGR of 4 percent, outpacing the global average of 2 percent, according to ADL. The government’s estimate is that India’s space economy could reach $40 billion by 2040.
Strategic imperatives
In June, India also joined the Artemis Accords, a multilateral space initiative led by the US, with the initial objective of sending humans back to the Moon.
“In the long term, sooner rather than later, India would have had to kind of hedge its bets, ensuring that we too would benefit from whatever comes out of deep space exploration,” Narayan Prasad, co-founder and COO of Satsearch, a space industry marketplace provider, and co-founder of Spaceport SARABHAI, an Indian space economy think tank, told Forbes India earlier. “There is always going to be a strategic angle to all of this because in the end, we should never get away from not being self-reliant.”
Even countries like Australia that were dependent on the US for a long time have started creating their space programmes, allocating their own budgets, and India, which has already done that, has a lead, he points out. “Now it’s just a question of how much further we want to go. It comes down to how much Indian policymakers are willing to invest in space to either do it independently or to do it with other countries.”
China, for example, has 500 active satellites today, compared to India’s 50. The Chinese have about 40 to 50 space launches a year, whereas India does it four to five times. And that comes down to the Chinese GDP having grown about six times to that of India, he says.
India is currently “stuck” at around ₹10,000-12,000 crore a year in space exploration expenses, he says. However, with the economic growth, if the space investments’ share as a proportion of the GDP remains or is even raised a bit, then as India doubles its economy if the space industry investments also double to around ₹25,000 crore, then many more space missions could be funded, he says.
At Bellatrix, the entrepreneurs were “one of the first movers from India to knock on doors and get people to look at funding the space sector and policy change”, Karanam says, “and get them to believe that there are private companies capable of building their own product lines, which have global interest.”
“From a business perspective we are trying to compete and position ourselves in a global market in such a way that we are ahead of the curve even when you compare us with some of the leaders in the segment in US and Europe,” he says.
“It’s not just technology, but also the supply chain and the cost aspects. How Elon Musk looked at the rocket industry, I think we are doing something like that for in-space mobility.”
Satellite as a service
To that effect, Bellatrix wants to go beyond making thrusters, to offer what they call “space taxis” to satellite OEMs and operators. “We have transitioned to a space mobility company,” Karanam says. They’re developing strong capabilities to “build the satellites and take say 10 customers on board, like an Uber pool”.
“So we take 10 customers on a single rocket, but 10 customers each have 10 locations to board or 10 orbits. We’ll be able to separately inject them at their orbits. So that’s how we have evolved.”
They have signed some early contracts to sell thrusters and feedback has been good both in India and overseas, Karanam says. Today, Bellatrix is a team of about 100 engineers.
There’s one other innovation with their space taxi idea. “The same space taxi can also function as a dedicated satellite,” Ganapathy points out. This would allow customers to focus on their core payload—like an imaging system or a communications system—and not worry about building a satellite around that payload.
Once the space taxi deploys various payloads to their intended orbits, it can still function as a satellite to host another payload and post-deployment, the ownership can be transferred to the customer. In other words, satellites as a service.
Bellatrix last raised about $8 million in Series A funding, in 2022, from investors, including BASF Venture Capital, Inflexor and Pavestone Capital, taking its total to about $11.3 million.
The founders are now actively in talks for more investments, as they plan to build a futuristic factory, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. By 2026, they expect their R&D to hit steady state, and commercial activity to take off.
Bellatrix Aerospace: Reimagining Space Mobility And Satellites-as-a-service - Forbes India
ISRO Facilitates Indian Start-up's Rocket Motor Test
March 28, 2024
SDSC-SHAR/ISRO, Sriharikota facilitated the static test of the S2 motor of Kalam-250 Rocket designed and developed by an Indian Space start-up M/s Skyroot Aerospace, Hyderabad at SDSC’s propulsion testbed. The test was enabled by IN-SPACe. Leveraging expertise and infrastructure, SDSC SHAR offered a comprehensive technical assessment and feasibility study, selecting the 6A-High Capacity test bed for the test execution. VSSC/ISRO provided its in-house developed head-mounted safe arm (HMSA) for the test, essential for ensuring the safe operation of the rocket stage.
Upon receipt of the test article, rigorous evaluations were conducted, including Nondestructive Testing (NDT) to ensure motor integrity. Meticulous integration activities followed the motor alignment, in-situ thrust calibration, and Flex Nozzle Control (FNC) Actuation trials on the test bed. An extensive array of instrumentation systems, comprising approximately 196 measurements across various parameters such as thrust, pressure, strain, temperature, heat flux, acoustics, vibration, displacement, and pyrotechnics, were executed.
SDSC-SHAR support included post-fire quenching systems, high-speed photography, and video capture, ensuring a comprehensive test environment. On March 27, 2024, after rigorous technical reviews and clearances, the test was successfully conducted. All testbed systems, including instrumentation, performed within normal parameters, affirming the safety and efficacy of the test.
In adherence to the provisions of the MOU and Joint Project Implementation Plan (JPIP), digital data, including high-speed camera images, were furnished to M/s. Skyroot Aerospace to enable upcoming orbital space launch. This support underscores ISRO's commitment to fostering technological advancements and facilitating innovative endeavors by non-governmental entities in the aerospace domain.
ISRO Facilitates Indian Start-up's Rocket Motor Test
LMW ATC hands over payload faiting to ISRO for LVM3
April 02, 2024, 09:06 pm IST
COIMBATORE
THE HINDU BUREAU
The payload fairing, atop a launch vehicle, shields the satellite from aerodynamic, thermal, and acoustic stresses. Employees of LMW ATC stand in front of the LVM3 payload fairing for a photo. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT.
Coimbatore-based LMW Advanced Technology Centre (LMW ATC), which caters to space and aerospace sectors, has delivered a 5-m diameter Ogive Payload Fairing to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for LVM3.
The company, with its metallics and composites divisions, has built the payload fairing. It is made of carbon composites and is 10.75 meters tall.
The Ogive Payload Fairing for LVM3 built by Lakshmi Machine Works Advance Technology Centre in Coimbatore. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT.
Chairman and Managing Director of LMW Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu on Tuesday handed over the hardware documents to ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, who unveiled the payload fairing virtually.
Chairman and Managing Director of Lakshmi Machine Works Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu (left) handed over on April 02, 2024, documents related to Ogive Payload Fairing it supplied to the Indian Space Research Organisation for LVM3. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT.
In February, it delivered a flight critical “4-m diameter hat-stiffened composite equipment bay shroud” to the ISRO for the upcoming Gaganyaan Mission.
LMW-ATC also conducted assembly, structural testing, and non-destructive testing of composite tubular members of the Inter Tank Structure of the C-25 cryogenic upper stage for Chandrayaan-3.
LMW ATC hands over payload to ISRO for GSLV MK - III
April 02, 2024, 09:06 pm IST
COIMBATORE
THE HINDU BUREAU
The payload fairing, atop a launch vehicle, shields the satellite from aerodynamic, thermal, and acoustic stresses. Employees of LMW ATC stand in front of the LVM3 payload fairing for a photo. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT.
Coimbatore-based LMW Advanced Technology Centre (LMW ATC), which caters to space and aerospace sectors, has delivered a 5-m diameter Ogive Payload Fairing to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for LVM3.
The company, with its metallics and composites divisions, has built the payload fairing. It is made of carbon composites and is 10.75 meters tall.
The Ogive Payload Fairing for LVM3 built by Lakshmi Machine Works Advance Technology Centre in Coimbatore. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT.
Chairman and Managing Director of LMW Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu on Tuesday handed over the hardware documents to ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, who unveiled the payload fairing virtually.
Chairman and Managing Director of Lakshmi Machine Works Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu (left) handed over on April 02, 2024, documents related to Ogive Payload Fairing it supplied to the Indian Space Research Organisation for LVM3. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT.
In February, it delivered a flight critical “4-m diameter hat-stiffened composite equipment bay shroud” to the ISRO for the upcoming Gaganyaan Mission.
LMW-ATC also conducted assembly, structural testing, and non-destructive testing of composite tubular members of the Inter Tank Structure of the C-25 cryogenic upper stage for Chandrayaan-3.
LMW ATC hands over payload to ISRO for GSLV MK - III
Same rocket launch was cancelled last time too?Agnikul SOrTeD launch got scrubbed at T-1 min from launched.
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NSIL releases RFQ document to invite Indian Industry partners for production of LVM3 under PPP framework
Bengaluru
May 10, 2024
NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is inviting partners from Indian industry for productionizing LVM3 launch vehicle under Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework. NSIL has released the Request for Qualification (RFQ) to invite responses from potential bidders who would end-to-end realize ISRO’s heavy lift launcher LVM3.
As part of Space Sector reforms announced by Government of India during June 2020, space related activities in India got further opened up for enhanced private sector participation. In line with this, NSIL is considering collaborating with Indian Industries to leverage their expertise and capabilities towards productionizing LVM3 in increased numbers and for a longer period of time.
Global Launch service market assessment indicates substantial demand for launching communication satellites in GTO and satellites for Mega constellations in LEO. With a successful track record of 7 launches so far, LVM3 has a great potential and opportunity to capture this niche global launch service market. During 2023, LVM3 made its entry into the Global commercial Launch Service market, wherein it successfully launched 72 satellites belonging to M/s OneWeb, UK on-board two LVM3 missions from SDSC, SHAR.
As part of this RFQ, NSIL would technically qualify and shortlist multiple Indian industry partners. RFP would then be issued to these partners to seek investment/financial proposals. A single Indian industry partner would be selected to execute the envisaged LVM3 production programme with NSIL.
In line with the space sector reforms, NSIL during 2022, engaged with “HAL and L&T consortia” for realizing five nos of PSLV. This laid the foundation for the Indian Industries to graduate from being a mere supplier/ vendor of sub-systems/systems to assuming the bigger responsibility of the overall system integrator for end-to-end realization of PSLV.
NSIL, a CPSE (Government of India Undertaking) under the Department of Space (DoS), is the commercial arm of, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). NSIL has the mandate of enabling Indian industries to scale up high-technology manufacturing and production base for meeting the Global space programme needs.
https://www.nsilindia.co.in/sites/default/files/u1/LVM3 RFQ_Press Release.pdf
From the executive summary of this RFQ:
To cater to the projected Global launch service market demand, there is a need to increase the production capability of LVM3 to 4- 6 vehicles per year from the present capability of 2 vehicles per year. As part of this, NSIL is exploring options to partner with Indian industry through a PPP framework wherein industry partners would be made responsible to produce LVM3 in large numbers over a period of 10 to 15 years. Further, NSIL is also considering option to seek investment from the partnering Indian industry for the same. LVM3 production programme under a PPP framework is proposed over a period of fourteen years with the Indian industry expected to produce up to 6 LVM3 annually from the sixth year of commencement of the programme. Approximately 60 to 65 launch vehicles are projected to be realized through Indian industry during this proposed period.
This project is envisaged over a period of Fourteen (14) Years, which shall comprise of a Developmental Phase (DP) spanning over a period of Two (2) years and an Operational Phase (OP) for a period of Twelve (12) years.
