On August 23, India boldly pushed the frontiers of space exploration as the Vikram lander from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Chandrayaan-3 mission arrived at the moon’s south pole – the first to do so. The question is: Can this success rub off on the country’s spacetech industry?

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Earlier this week, local player SatSure, which provides satellite Earth observation data and analytics, banked US$15 million in series A money.

While the announcement of this fundraise can be purely coincidental (as fundraising takes several months), there definitely seems to be more excitement about the country’s spacetech sector.

“Chandrayaan’s landing signifies increased credibility for every player in the Indian space industry. It means that everyone in this field will be taken more seriously,” Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO of AgniKul Cosmos tells Tech in Asia.

The company is one of the few space tech startups in India planning to set off their satellites into space this year.

The startup is now poised to conduct its first suborbital test flight for its 3D-printed rocket, Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator, from the launch pad at the Sriharikota island.

If AgniKul pulls this off, it will be the second Indian startup to blast off a private rocket into space after Skyroot Aerospace – the nation’s top-funded spacetech firm, whose rocket launch was a success last November.

The Vikram rocket by Skyroot Aerospace/ Photo credit: Skyroot Aerospace

Skyroot and AgniKul have raised a total of US$75.6 million in funding in the past two years. Indian spacetech startups collectively secured US$112 million in funding in the 2022 calendar year, marking a 17% increase compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from Tracxn.

Over the moon with funding?

Chandrayaan-3’s triumph could trigger a major funding wave into India’s spacetech arena.

Sarvesh Kurane, vice president of marketing at SatSure, is “hopeful that [Indian] spacetech will become a key focus area for venture capitalists.”

Chinmaya Saxena, partner at Singapore-based VC firm Beenext – which invests in spacetech firms – thinks Chandrayaan-3’s feat can be compared to the US’ Apollo 11. The Indian mission gave the spark that was much needed in the country’s spacetech ecosystem, he says.

Space policy matters more