Anika Begay
EtherealX, an Indian space startup, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round, aiming to develop fully reusable medium-range launch vehicles, making satellite launches affordable and fast.
Space launches have multiplied in recent years. However, despite the number of players, launches still involve substantial transportation costs and considerable waiting times. For example, SpaceX launches are booked until 2026, even though it is a ride-sharing model.
EtherealX aims to solve this problem with a new fully reusable medium-lift vehicle that offers full reusability to help reduce transportation costs and cut launch times. Unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which provides partial reusability by returning its booster to Earth after successful launches, EtherealX is designing its vehicles to recover both the upper stage and the booster.
Founded in 2022 by Manu J. Nair (CEO) along with former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Shubhayu Sardar (COO) and aerospace engineer Prashant Sharma (CTO), the Bengaluru-based startup aims to take on SpaceX with its medium-lift vehicle dubbed Razor Crest Mk-1. In a fully reusable configuration, the design is intended to inject 8 tonnes into lower Earth orbit. The vehicle could also inject over 24.8 tonnes into lower Earth orbit in an expendable configuration and 22.8 tonnes in a partially reusable configuration. They claim it can also deliver payloads to geostationary transfer and trans-lunar injection orbits.
“When you bring back upper stages, the heat of reentry is so high that the cost of refurbishing is almost always greater than the cost of the new vehicle itself. So we built a completely new rocket engine cycle from scratch, which, combined with the delivery system, allows us to run our engines efficiently in both a vacuum and an atmosphere,” Nair said in an interview.
The startup claims it can operate at a price between $350 and $2,000 per kilogram, a fraction of what launch vehicles, including the Falcon 9, currently charge and 1/35 of the average global launch price.
“At the price we enter the market at, we will easily capture 30-40% of it,” Nair told TechCrunch.
The two-year-old startup has acquired 16 acres of land in Tamil Nadu, where it is developing what it claims to be India’s largest private rocket engine facility.
What is the approach to complete reusability?
Unlike conventional methods of defending against reentry heat, such as thermal tiles and other thermal protection systems, Nair explained to TechCrunch that EtherealX’s proprietary rocket engine cycle works in conjunction with a distribution system to redirect reentry heat during reentry. This helps the system operate efficiently in both a vacuum and an atmosphere, and allows the startup to achieve a precise landing compared to traditional ballistic reentry, which requires a much wider range of target landing zones.
“The closest model to our approach would be SpaceX’s Starship. They’re trying to bring the upper stage back, but they’re doing it with heat shields or tiles,” the executive said. “We’re not fighting the heat of reentry.”
The startup refused to provide too many official details in order to conduct the tests in secret.
Currently, EtherealX does not produce the rocket engine in-house to avoid capital expenditures related to production and has partnered with a few companies to outsource its production. However, it plans to produce the rocket over time.
“As we develop the rocket, we need to find out the most effective way to produce these components, so that we can set up a suitable manufacturing facility, which will be tested indigenously,” Nair said.
EtherealX aims to test its development with a technology demonstrator vehicle (TDV), which it plans to launch in 2026. The company told TechCrunch that the startup plans to launch its initial vehicle in full orbit at about 400 kilometers, using the same type of engine as the full-scale vehicle but in fewer numbers: four engines in the upper stage and one in the booster stage.
The TDV will be 35 metres high and 2.5 metres wide with a capacity of 1.2 tonnes.
The co-founder told TechCrunch that he will first focus on launching the TDV and then verifying the telemetry and flight software ahead of a commercial launch.
In the meantime, the startup has already identified 35 potential customers for a 2026 launch, although it initially plans to proceed with 10-15 customers.
India’s space ecosystem has grown significantly. The South Asian nation is home to 229 space tech startups, according to Indian government data, and the ecosystem already has players building small satellite launch vehicles and solutions to provide space situational awareness and hyperspectral imaging.
The Indian government expects the country to increase its share of the global space ecosystem fourfold by 2030. In recent months, New Delhi has rolled out its space policy and updated rules to attract foreign investors and companies. The country has also attracted global attention for events including its successful moon landing and its partnership with NASA to join the Artemis Accords.
In 2023, India’s space tech investments reached $126 million, up 7% from $118 million raised in 2022 and up 235% from $37.6 million in 2021, according to Tracxn. The funding landscape has so far been driven by early-stage investments, as the ecosystem is yet to mature for commercial operations.
EtherealX’s seed funding round, led by Indian deep-tech fund YourNest, also involved BIG Capital, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, SGgrow and Golden Sparrow Ventures.
The startup plans to use its new funding to begin engine firing tests in the next six months and set the pitch for its TDV launch in a couple of years. It also aims to finish building its engine test facility and producing its 40 kilonewton and 925 kilonewton engines.
