IN-SPACe Funds Astrobase Rocket Tech; Jitendra Singh asserts, "India wins on talent"
Ahmedabad, June 11
In a major boost to India's space industry, the Indian Government has granted support to Indian space infrastructure company Astrobase for its rocket engine, as per a statement by the company.
As per the release, the company has been selected for support under the "Technology Adoption Fund (TAF) of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) for the development of its indigenous 80-ton Full Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) LOX-methane rocket engine."
"The support will accelerate the development of Astrobase's engine, a critical component of the company's broader vision to build advanced space infrastructure in India," the release said.
According to the release, the engine is under hot-fire test at the company's propulsion test facility in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
As India works towards building a USD 44 billion space economy by 2034, the development marks an important milestone in strengthening the country's indigenous space infrastructure capabilities and expanding its participation in the global space value chain.
The grant agreement, linked to defined technical milestones, was signed by Neeraj Khandelwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Astrobase, during a ceremony hosted by Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, and attended by senior government and industry leaders, including Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal.
While addressing a press conference during the event, Union Minister Jitendra Singh highlighted a very critical factor regarding India's space industry. He said, "Scaling up technology also would require money."
"We need to have more and more of investments coming in domestically, internationally, whether in the form of philanthropy, from foundations, from business players," he added.
Furthermore, contrasting India's space growth with China, he added, "China has advanced so much....they said dump all the money to science technology... Xi Jinping was there, he said, science doesn't require freedom of the press. Science doesn't require freedom of speech; science requires only money. So, you have no Ayushman, you have no Ladli Beti, you have no Ujjwala, no PM Kishan. We can't be doing that. But in spite of that, if we are competitive, I think it's our, you know, strength. Then the other thing that was also decided at the same time was that for 10 years, no child policy."
"I think we have human resource in abundance," he added.
The Technology Adoption Fund (TAF) was established by IN-SPACe to accelerate the development and commercialisation of high-potential space technologies by Indian private-sector companies.
— ANI
Reader Comments
FFSC LOX-methane engine is cutting-edge stuff! Astrobase is doing what many thought was impossible for Indian private sector. But Jitendra Singh's speech made me uncomfortable—why drag China into it? Let our work speak for itself.
"India wins on talent" — love that line! We have brilliant engineers and scientists who are now getting the support they deserve. ₹44 billion space economy by 2034 is ambitious but achievable with this kind of public-private collaboration.
Happy for Astrobase but wish the government would focus more on basic science education in schools. We can't build a space economy without nurturing the next generation of scientists. Still, a good step forward. 👏
Jitendra Singh ji raising China comparison is risky—we have our own path. India's space program is unique because we innovate on a budget. That's our superpower! Proud of Astrobase and IN-SPACe for this collaboration.
Finally some concrete support for private space players! The Anantapur test facility is fantastic. But I hope TAF doesn't just fund big companies—small startups with innovative ideas also need a chance. Let's build a truly inclusive space ecosystem! 🚀
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