Astrobase has built Lox Methane engine test stand. High flow rates. On the path to achieve hot fire for a Full Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) rocket engine. This is built by Indians 🇮🇳 Frankly, India doesn’t have a talent problem in deep tech.

IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund just cleared funding for three startups: Astrobase Space Technologies, SatSure Analytics India and TM2SPACE Technologies. Most people saw three startups. We see a clue. Buried in the announcement was a project to develop a methane-LOX rocket engine. At first glance, that sounds like technical jargon. But it caught our attention for one reason. SpaceX spent years building an engine around the same fuel combination. So did Blue Origin. So is China ! And now India is funding it. That raises an interesting question: What do they know that most people don't? Historically, India relied on the Vikas engine family and cryogenic engines that helped build one of the world's most cost-effective launch programs. They have served us remarkably well. But...if the ambition is frequent launches, rapid turnaround times, and eventually reusable rockets, the equation starts to change. That's where methane enters the story. Not because it is a better fuel in every situation. But because it fundamentally changes the economics of reusability. Cleaner combustion means less soot inside the engine. Less refurbishment between flights. Faster turnaround. And therefore - Lower costs. In essence, a seemingly small change in fuel could lead to a massive change in capability. What's even more interesting is the architecture being pursued: Full-Flow Staged Combustion. This is not an incremental improvement. It's one of the most advanced rocket engine cycles ever attempted. And very few countries have successfully mastered it. Yet an Indian startup is now working on exactly that. The funding amount doesn't interests us. The signal does ! Because when governments start backing specific technologies, they often reveal something about where they believe the future is headed. And sure funding doesn't equate to outcomes. These are usually long lead time projects and fundamentally unpredictable. But it signals that the focus is on launches. This is BIG but yet bigger opportunity may be hiding much deeper in the ecosystem. If India's space ambitions accelerate over the next decade, who benefits before the rockets launches? The launch providers? Or the precision engineering companies, advanced materials players, electronics suppliers and manufacturers? That's the puzzle we're exploring in our upcoming webinar on India's space sector. 🔗 Registration link: firstprinciplesinvesting.in/… Date: 28th June 2026 Time: 11:00 am GET an EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT : EB500 AND as usual, 100% Money Back Guarantee if it sucks.

Entirely right → India does not have a talent problem in deep tech. For decades, the global narrative was that Indian engineers were only meant for enterprise software, databases, or low-margin contract work. We were told advanced metallurgy and cryogenic infrastructure belonged strictly to Western or Chinese state-backed monoliths. Astrobase is smashing that myth on the concrete floor of their own test facility. We never lacked the minds. We have the toolmakers, fluid dynamics geniuses, and systems engineers to stand toe-to-toe with anyone in Munich or California. What we lacked was the institutional permission to compete, venture scale, and sheer audacity to look at a thermodynamic suicide mission and say → "We will build the factory, we will lay the concrete for the test stands, and we will fire it ourselves." The stands are ready. The turbopumps are clearing flow tests. The Indian factory floor isn’t just assembling the future anymore; we are generating the thrust to launch it.

@bseshadri we r working with Astrobase blore for some of their instrumentation needs, watching your podcast on rocket launches by pvt sector