Co-Founder @astrobase_space | Cryogenic propulsion & Reusable launchers| Building FFSC LOX-Methane engines
Bengaluru, India
Joined July 2012
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Devakumar retweeted
Good to meet the @astrobase_space team today. They started in 2024, and have made impressive progress in just two years.
The Everest engine, an 800 kN full-flow staged combustion engine, will be a first for India. I am told FFSC is among the hardest architectures in rocketry, attempted by very few anywhere. They are also building a manufacturing unit with one of India's largest metal 3D printers.
First orbital lunch is planned in just over 2 Yrs. Ambitious target but the team is confident and committed. @isro @INSPACeIND
Devakumar retweeted
It was wonderful to meet the Yuva Urja of India’s space sector…young entrepreneurs and innovators who have shown remarkable courage by entering a new and demanding domain. They have taken risks, trusted the reform process and remained consistent in their efforts. Due to this, India has achieved a lot in the space sector in the last few years.
The StartUps made insightful presentations on their work. They also appreciated the space reforms of the Government and how it encouraged them to grow further in this sector.
I assured the space StartUps that Government of India will continue to stand with them as they build India’s capabilities for the future. India can offer the world a strong, innovative and commercially viable model in the space sector.
Devakumar retweeted
Astrobase is at 1/5th of the cost structure compared to US and Europe but a technology stack that’s at par or better. I have a favourite statement - “Nobody has gotten this far spending so little”. It compounds from here.
Astrobase is coming for the global launch market, space data centres and the defence infrastructure. We have started with solving the propulsion system first. Choosing the hardest yet the best propulsion system as a long term commitment.
Devakumar retweeted
The @ISpA_India congratulates our esteemed Startup Member @astrobase_space Technologies on the unveiling of EVEREST – India’s first privately-built 800 kN Full-Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) rocket engine.
#ISpA #Astrobase #RocketPropulsion #FFSC #NewSpace
Devakumar retweeted
🔥🇮🇳 Astrobase dévoile Everest, le premier moteur FFSC privé indien.
Le 7 août 2026, la start-up bengaluruite Astrobase Space Technologies a présenté Everest, le premier moteur-fusée à combustion étagée à flux complet (FFSC) entièrement développé par une entreprise privée indienne.
🔹 Fonctionnant au LOX et au méthane liquide, Everest développe environ 800 kN de poussée dans le vide, soit une classe de 80 tonnes. Il affiche une impulsion spécifique d’environ 340 s et une plage de régulation de poussée de 50 à 110 %.
🔹 Cette architecture est destinée à la propulsion de lanceurs moyen-porteurs réutilisables, notamment grâce à sa large plage de modulation permettant un contrôle précis lors des phases d’atterrissage propulsif.
🔹 Fondée en 2024 par l’ancien spécialiste propulsion de l’ISRO Devakumar Thammisetty et l’entrepreneur Neeraj Khandelwal, Astrobase a conçu, fabriqué et intégré Everest principalement à Bengaluru, avec un recours important à la fabrication additive métallique.
🔹 L’entreprise dispose également d’un site d’essais de 8,7 hectares près d’Anantapur, en Andhra Pradesh, doté d’un banc capable de supporter jusqu’à 200 tonnes de poussée.
🔹 Le cycle Full-Flow Staged Combustion, particulièrement complexe, n’a jusqu’ici été opérationnel en vol qu’avec le Raptor de SpaceX, faisant d’Everest un développement particulièrement ambitieux pour une société privée.
👉 Astrobase prévoit désormais les premiers essais à feu du moteur intégré dans les prochains mois, avec l’objectif de tester une vingtaine de moteurs avant le premier vol orbital de son lanceur réutilisable, visé pour fin 2028 ou 2029.
📷 : @gagan_shux
Devakumar retweeted
Inspiring @neerajKh_, @devakumar_t! 🫡
Got to witness history today as @astrobase_space
unveils EVEREST: India’s first Full-Flow Staged Combustion rocket engine!
The incredible progress the team has made in such a short time is staggering. They have taken one of the hardest chokepoints in spacetech and innovated and solved it with a bold, long-term vision for scale.
Super proud to be an early supporter in this journey, as they build the future of Indian space.
The massive scale they are aiming for is exactly what India and the industry need!
Devakumar retweeted
And a disclaimer - the engine has to be hot fired. What we have achieved is design + build cycle and subsystem level testing. Integrated hot fire next.
Devakumar retweeted
EVEREST will take 1000 tonnes to Low earth orbit annually from Indian soil. It will take immense amount of effort by the Astrobase team. This is what we are up for.
1000 tonnes == 5000 operational Sats in LEO. Thats what we need as a first step. That where it starts to matter.
Devakumar retweeted
The Indian space sector seems to be getting more exciting with each passing day.
Today, I had the privilege of witnessing the unveiling of EVEREST—a full-flow staged combustion engine being developed by Astrobase @astrobase_space in Bengaluru.
For those outside the space community, this may sound like just another engine. It isn’t. A full-flow staged combustion cycle is among the most demanding engineering challenges in rocketry. To date, only a handful of companies—not countries, but companies—have seriously pursued this architecture, and only SpaceX has successfully flown one to orbit.
What stayed with me, however, wasn’t just the hardware on display. It was the faces in the room.
Behind every piece of metal stood years of calculations, failed tests, redesigns, persistence, and quiet determination. You could see it in the smiles of the engineers and the pride in their eyes. Those expressions told the real story of the milestone.
My heartfelt congratulations to the entire Astrobase team on reaching this point. Milestones like these are never the finish line, they are proof that the journey is moving in the right direction. Wishing you all the very best for the hot-fire tests and the many successes that lie ahead.
This is how ecosystems are built, not through a single breakthrough, but through many ambitious teams choosing to solve problems that once seemed impossibly hard.
And that is what makes me deeply optimistic about the future of India’s space sector.
#shux #space #india #shubhanshushukla #astrobase
Devakumar retweeted
VERY INTERESTING SPACE STARTUP - @astrobase_space
Only ONE full-flow staged combustion (ffsc) rocket engine has ever flown - SpaceX's Raptor.
-only 7 have run on a test stand, anywhere, in history.
-ISRO has never attempted the cycle.
-Bengaluru startup (founded '24) is trying this!
Astrobase wants an 800 kN FFSC methane engine
-7 of them under a reusable rocket
-and orbit by 2029.
BUT ffsc is the Everest of engine cycles:
-2 pre-burners instead of one
-all propellant turned to hot gas before it meets in the chamber
-Rewards: extreme chamber pressures (Raptor exceeds 300 bar), top-tier efficiency, engines that can fly hundreds of times
What Astrobase has actually demonstrated:
-sub-scale hot fire, September 2025
-successful on the first attempt, per the company
-21.5-acre test site at Anantapur with a 200-tonne stand
-India's first private high-thrust LOX-methane facility
CREDIBLE TEAM
- Selected June 2026 for IN-SPACe's ₹500-crore Technology Adoption Fund
-3 winners from 43 applicants; ₹25 crore cap)
-backing its own engine design
-no ISRO blueprint changing hands
Can they pull it off? Is it workable? Do they have the money to make it possible? How much of this is actually real? Isn't it too early to say anything?
An in-depth explainer in @SwarajyaMag
swarajyamag.com/commentary/c…
Devakumar retweeted
Astrobase is targeting reusability of rockets by 2030 for India. The precise reason for choosing FFSC engine cycle. To make reusable rockets, you need reusable engines first.
After US, China has achieved reusability of rockets. This will allow China to launch 100+ rockets annually. To be clear, while the launch cost gets impacted by reusability modestly, it’s the launch frequency that goes ballistic because you don’t have to build a booster from scratch again and again in the assembly line. Booster buildout gets replaced by booster refurbishment.
Devakumar retweeted
Under four days until China may recover its first booster. Catching drone ship 'Linghangzhe' is currently en route to grab the 5-meter-wide first-stage.
Devakumar retweeted
There is a reason why India’s actual Mars orbiter mission was lower cost than the movie Gravity or Martian. India has a structural cost advantage. Be it hardware or software 🤷🏼♂️
Devakumar retweeted
India is so behind. We launched 7 objects into the space in 2025. US sent more than 3700 and China sent 370.
Top reason behind this is that Space in India got privatised in just last few years. US has a 2 decade lead and China has a 1 decade lead over India.
In a very conservative scenario, India will own 500 sats by 2035. The number could go upto 2000-5000 if we end up building starlink like constellation. Astrobase will make it happen.
Devakumar retweeted
#SIAIndiaMembers | #INSPACe
Congratulations to Astrobase Space Technologies, SatSure, and TakeMe2Space on being selected under the first round of IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund (#TAF).
🚀 Astrobase Space Technologies – Development of an 800 kN-class reusable LOX-LNG rocket engine for future commercial launch vehicles.
🌍 SatSure Analytics India – Development of "Dhaarini", an AI-powered Earth Observation platform for satellite imagery analytics across agriculture, infrastructure, and disaster management.
🛰️ TM2SPACE Technologies – Development of indigenous AI-enabled star trackers to enhance satellite positioning and navigation capabilities.
This recognition highlights the innovation and technological excellence emerging from India's private space ecosystem. We are proud to see our member companies contributing to the development of critical space technologies and strengthening India's space capabilities.
#SIAIndia #TechnologyAdoptionFund #IndianSpaceSector #SpaceInnovation #SpaceTechnology #NewSpace #CommercialSpace #DeepTech #INSPACe
@sat_sure | @tm2space | @rokrsa | @pbasu_space | @astrobase_space | @neerajKh_ | @devakumar_t | @AnilPra28432993 | @RGambhir | @heysudipta
🤖 Made with AI
Devakumar retweeted
Launching rockets is not about making money. It’s about owning a choke point the entire Orbital infrastructure depends upon. Thats far more powerful than EBIDTA margins. Astrobase’s FFSC engine will change India’s space trajectory.
IN-SPACe has picked @astrobase_space, @sat_sure and @tm2space under their Technology Adoption Fund.
Why these three?
Because they are building epic stuff.
Astrobase is the first and only company in India to work on developing an FFSC engine.
And this is a huge deal.
Because SpaceX is the only company in the world to have successfully flown an FFSC engine.
This is the same engine that's powering SpaceX's massive Starship.
Then you have SatSure.
They are building what they call an Earth Intelligence company.
They are using raw satellite data, turning it into meaningful insights and using that to create products that can be used by companies on Earth to make real business decision.
In fact, one of their more interesting product is SatSource - which basically captures detailed data about cropping patterns, land productivity and risk classification in a region.
And this data is then checked against land records - to give the banks the ability to build an alternate credit score for farmers in that region.
Banks then use that information to provide loans to farmers.
Now, SatSure is building "Dhaarini" - their own foudnational AI model.
By training their AI model on India-specific data - they will be able to create more finetuned AI products for Indian businesses.
Then there is TakeMe2Space.
And they are trying to build data centers in space.
But under the Technology Adoption Fund, they are working on building an indigenous AI-powered star tracker system for satellites called StarSense.
This is basically a smart camera on a satellite - which looks at the stars in space and figures out exactly which direction is the satellite facing.
It essentially acts as the compass for the satellites.
And every satellite that needs to take accurate pictures and send communication through space - this star tracker system and its accuracy becomes critical.
