New Delhi, Aug 6 (PTI) Space start-up EtherealX on Tuesday announced raising five million dollars in seed funding to develop engines for the world’s first fully reusable medium-lift satellite launch vehicle.
Founded in 2022 by former ISRO engineer Manu Nair and aerospace engineer Prashant Sharma, EtherealX hopes its rocket would offer absolute reusability to help reduce transportation costs and cut launch timeframes.
The funding round was led by YourNest and saw participation from BIG Global Investments JSC, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, and Golden Sparrow Ventures, Karan Bhagat and Yatin Shah from IIFL Wealth, Kiran Shetty and Akhilesh Agarwal, a statement from EtherealX said.
Unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which brings its booster back to Earth after a successful launch, EtherealX launch vehicle Razor Crest Mk-1 will bring back both the upper stage and booster after placing payloads in orbit.
“The funds from this round will be utilized towards the completion of our test facility, final tests and qualification of the 40kN engine for the upper stage and for the manufacturing of the 925kN semi-cryogenic engine,” Nair, CEO of EtherealX, said in a statement.
“Class-specific launch vehicles have always been limiting, both technologically and cost-wise. We solve this with a clear tech advantage, addressing both frequency and pricing challenges. We’re thrilled our investors share this broader vision for our civilization and high-impact technology. Together, we shall recalibrate the preconceived notions of what’s possible,” Nair said.
Ranjeet Shetye, Venture Partner at YourNest, said that EtherealX represented the focused convergence of all the values that the investors seek in daring founders who challenge the status quo.
“Their individual experiences feed into their unified zeal and their trail-blazing structural technology makes EtherealX the company that will jumpstart humanity’s expansion into deep space,” Shetye said.
“We are delighted to join EtherealX in its vision to make space exploration and transportation more cost-effective and scalable,” said BIG Capital CFO Preetinder S Panjrath.
Designed for full reusability, the fully reusable launch vehicle is capable of launching eight tons into the lower Earth orbit.
It can also carry payloads of over 24.8 tons into the lower Earth orbit in a disposable configuration and 22.8 tons in a partially reusable configuration.
Additionally, it is designed to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer and trans-lunar injection orbits. PTI SKU AS AS
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