Lucknow-based Kalam Labs is taking to skies with its UAVs. Next flight: 30,000 metres above sea level

In the test flight, carried out in the last week of June, Kalam Labs launched the highest UAV flight (with a wingspan of under two metres) to ever be carried out in India.

Representational image | X @kalam_labs

New Delhi: Kalam Labs, a Lucknow-based stratospheric aerial robotics lab, is set to make a new record by launching an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to a height of 30,000 metres above mean sea level. This comes days after they launched an autonomous aerial mission—without direct human control throughout the mission—to a height of 9,790 metres above mean sea level. 

In the test flight, carried out in the last week of June, Kalam Labs launched what they said was the highest UAV flight (with a wingspan of under two metres) to ever be carried out in India. Though yet to be certified, this record is also potentially the highest in the world.

Twenty-five-year-old Ahmad Faraaz, who started Kalam Labs with his former BITS Pilani classmates, Sashakt Tripathi and Harshit Awasthi, around two years ago, said this project is being developed for the Army, with the aim of advancing India’s defence capabilities.

“Imagine it this way. During Operation Sindoor, the UAVs that were deployed operated at an altitude of 5,000 metres. We have tested ours for a height of over 9,700 metres and have the capability of reaching 30,000 metres,” Faraaz said. There will be more tests while increasing the height progressively. 

For context, the peak of Mount Everest which is the highest of the Himalayan mountains is at 8,850 metres above mean sea level.

Prior to the latest test flight by Kalam Labs, the UAV was in a separate instance carried to a height and dropped, after which it embarked on a guided return at the speed of 800 km/h. It travelled back to its base point with sub-metre precision—accuracy within less than one metre.

How was the test flight carried out

This test flight by Kalam Labs comes at a time when India is encouraging Made-in-India defence technologies and capabilities. “This is a bold experiment in the field of high-altitude UAVs,” Faraaz said, adding that Indian armed forces have been encouraging young techies like him and his co-founders to push the boundaries in the field of defence technology.

Achieved 9790 m AMSL — possibly the world’s highest UAV flight with under 2 m wingspan.
Launched from 2700 m in the Himalayas.
Temperature dropped from +20°C to -60°C
Winds crossed 50 km/h
Atmospheric pressure fell by 73%

Fully autonomous. Sub-4 kg. Built at Kalam Labs. pic.twitter.com/COyx7ALHV0

— Kalam Labs (@kalam_labs) June 29, 2025

A fully Indian-made initiative, the mission involved a UAV weighing less than four kilograms with a wingspan of less than two metres, launched from the rugged terrain of the Himalayas. The UAV took flight from a base altitude of 2,700 metres, ascending to over 7,000 metres to reach about 9,790 metres above mean sea level.

Apart from the rough launch terrain, the mission is also significant for braving flight conditions. From the launch temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, the temperature plummeted to -60 degrees Celsius at peak altitude. This, along with the high wind speeds ranging up to 50km/h and thin air, tested the UAV’s stability and design.

The UAV’s performance under conditions such as a drastic drop in atmospheric pressure—over 70 per cent in this case—also proved its advanced engineering and flight control.

The UAV, which is fully autonomous, is guided by an onboard AI navigation system, which eliminates the need for human intervention. If commissioned by the armed forces, such a design would prove beneficial in missions where surveillance of inaccessible terrain is involved.

India’s UAV industry has been growing rapidly over the last few years. A 2022 report by KPMG highlighted that between 2015 and 2022, nearly 37 patents around technologies, such as for propeller safety in automated aerial vehicles and hybrid aerial vehicles, were filed in India.

Between August 2021 and February 2022, India saw a 34.4 per cent growth in the number of drone startups, bringing the total to 221. The number now stands at 506.

“The government has eased the process for startups to get into the field of UAVs and drones. This is part of the larger goal of atma nirbharta (self-reliance) on India’s own defence capabilities,” a senior official from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)