Startups cheer HAL's takeover of SSLV rocket; hope it boosts market for small satellites
With the defense PSU
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
(
HAL
) becoming the first Indian firm to own, build, and commercialise the Indian Space Research Organisation's (
ISRO
)
SSLV
rocket, sections of Indian startups are hopeful the deal will help them rely less on launch service providers overseas, get better schedule visibility, and save on costs.
So far, most Indian startups, such as Pixxel, Digantara, and GalaxEye's upcoming mission Drishti, have used SpaceX for their launches. Some startups have also conducted payload testing on ISRO's shared missions. Startups told ET that if HAL can offer transparent pricing and firm launch windows, they would strongly prefer to work with Indian launch providers. Industry experts said the government should consider incentivising private payloads launched on Indian rockets to build a stronger homegrown ecosystem.
SatLeo Labs CEO Shravan S Bhati, building thermal imaging satellites for low earth orbit (LEO), said the move will open new avenues for the competitive small satellite market and free up ISRO's think tank for deeper research and development (R&D) and planetary missions. The small satellite market, as per Stratview Research, will be valued at $7.7 billion by 2030. The small satellite market, as per Stratview Research (2024), was valued at $6.7 billion and is projected to grow to $7.7 billion by 2030.
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Earlier, in an interview with ET, Pawan Goenka, chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion & Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), said the regulator-cum-promoter will be setting up a dedicated launch centre for small satellite launches. 'Our target is to conduct 25 small satellite launches per year across three vehicles (SSLV, Agnikul's, and Skyroot's rockets), securing a major share of the global market.'
Ahmedabad-based PierSight Space's cofounder, Vinit Bansal, working on maritime technology, said that transferring SSLV technology to an agency focussed on production, such as HAL, can enable more SSLV launches per year. 'SSLV can now serve as an 'Uber to space,' providing flexible access to specific orbits that are not feasible through shared missions,' he added.
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Awais Ahmed, founder of Google-backed Pixxel, said that for startups such as his, this can reduce dependency on foreign launch providers and improve scheduling predictability. The startup launched its Firefly constellation of hyperspectral satellites earlier this year from SpaceX.
'If SSLV is reliably available and HAL builds institutional maturity in launch operations, it would certainly make access easier and potentially more cost-competitive,' Ahmed told ET.
Another space tech startup, SpaceFields' founder, Apurwa Masook, building solid rocket propulsion technology for aerospace and defence and collaborating with HAL, said the global launch market is highly competitive and demands aggressive customer acquisition and agile supply chain management. He pointed out that traditional Indian DPSUs like HAL have historically faced challenges, which is also evident in their growing backlogs in military deliveries.
'For SSLV to succeed in the commercial market, HAL would need to rethink its go-to-market strategy and possibly lean more on nimble private sector collaborators,' the Bengaluru-based Masook said.
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