Astrobase Space Technologies

Overview

ENGINE UNVERIFIED BY FIRE — integrated hardware unveiled, hot-fire pending

Technology

Engine: EVEREST — see engine_programmes for full detail

Headline specs: 800 kN vacuum thrust, ~340 s Isp, 50–110% throttle, LOX/methane, Full-Flow Staged Combustion, 3D-printed core components

Vehicle: Reusable medium-lift rocket with a seven-engine cluster

Design independence: Pursuing its own design rather than working from ISRO blueprints

Funding

Total raised: Not publicly disclosed

Grants: Selected under IN-SPACe's ₹500 crore Technology Adoption Fund on 10 June 2026 — one of only three chosen from 43 applicants, with milestone-linked support capped at ₹25 crore

Future plans

Next milestone: Full-scale ground hot-fire

Timeline: H2 2026; ~20 engines to be tested before first orbital flight; first orbital flight targeted December 2028 (some coverage says 2029)

Production: Up to 50 engines/year; 100 tonnes launch capacity Phase 1, 1,000+ tonnes Phase 2

Risk assessment

Founded 2024. No flight hardware. Attempting the hardest liquid engine cycle in existence, which ISRO has never attempted and which only SpaceX has flown. The sub-scale and turbopump results are genuinely encouraging, but the gap between an unveiled engine and a fired one is where most propulsion programmes fail.

Research notes

Flag: This company was completely absent from v3.0 and thinly covered in v4.0. It is arguably the most technically ambitious propulsion programme in India's private sector.

Import provenance

Imported from IFSC Archive dataset v5.0, research snapshot 2026-08-16.