Indian space tech startup InspeCity raises $11 million
Over the next 12-18 months, the company plans to execute four in-orbit missions across the RIG-X, VEDA-X and SAMA-X mission roadmap, progressively validating its propulsion, sensing, autonomous operations, robotics, docking and refuelling capabilities in space.
Indian space tech startup InspeCity has raised approximately USD 10.5 million in its pre-Series A round led by Speciale Invest and Ashish Kacholia, with participation from Antler Elevate, Antler India, Manish Gandhi, Shastra VC, and others.
The venture financing marks InspeCity’s transition from developing and validating technologies for autonomous operations in space to flight qualification, orbital deployment and commercial delivery, the company said.
Over the next 12-18 months, the company plans to execute four in-orbit missions across the RIG-X, VEDA-X and SAMA-X mission roadmap, progressively validating its propulsion, sensing, autonomous operations, robotics, docking and refuelling capabilities in space.
In parallel, InspeCity will scale commercial deployment of its GITA propulsion systems and RIG-based capabilities, while expanding engineering, manufacturing and mission execution capacity, the company said.
“This round marks our transition from proving technologies individually to qualifying an integrated architecture in space and putting it to work for customers,” Prof. Arindrajit Chowdhury, Founder and CEO of InspeCity, said. “Satellite life-extension is the first major problem we are solving, but the ability to inspect, approach, dock with, manipulate, refuel, and maintain spacecraft is foundational to a much larger in-space economy.”
“In-space servicing is one of the few categories where the technical moat and the commercial need arrive at the same time,” Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest, said. “InspeCity has built the full stack propulsion, robotics and RPOD in-house, which is rare anywhere in the world and rarer still at this cost base.”
According to Ashish Kacholia, Founder, Lucky Investment Managers, InspeCity has set out to solve some of the most complex challenges in the space sector from building and scaling satellite propulsion systems in India for a global customer base to enabling in-orbit inspection, interception, docking, and life-extension services, alongside other strategic missions.
