As Ananth Technologies in Hyderabad’s Hi-Tech City comes into view, it instantly signals to visitors: big things are happening here. At the entrance stand models of launch vehicles and satellites—markers of work that had largely remained out of the public eye. That changed during Operation Sindoor—debris at a Pakistani air force base had the following etched on it:
Ananth Technologies
Hyderabad-81, India
Email: mail@ananthtech.com
The company’s logo—a satellite circling the earth—was only partially intact on the debris. But, as we enter the chambers of founder-chairman Subba Rao Pavuluri, it is there in all its glory. He left a 15-year career at Indian Space Research Organisation in 1992 to build something of his own.
“From the beginning, I have always believed that the nation needs to be self-reliant,” he said. “[India’s space policy reforms] clearly defined the roles of ISRO and the private sector. ISRO focuses on R&D and exploring outer worlds and human space flight, etc. The private sector deals with operational programmes. The reforms (including the creation of IN-SPACe—Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre—in 2020 as a regulator and promoter) empowered private firms to grow by leaps and bounds.”
Ananth Technologies has become one of ISRO’s most significant private partners—contributing for launch vehicles, satellite development and data applications. For the SpaDex mission (end of 2024), which made India one of a small group of nations to prove docking technology, it developed 220kg twin satellites, and integrated and tested them at its Bengaluru facility. The facility’s clean room—the largest in India’s private sector—can simultaneously handle four satellites of up to 3,000kg each, with space for 100 technicians to work concurrently.
During THE WEEK’s visit, the Bengaluru facility was developing subsystems for the human spaceflight programme.
Ananth Technologies also has a centre for launch vehicles in Thiruvananthapuram, and multiple satellite data utilisation centres.
The company has been given the opportunity to launch a communication satellite into geostationary orbit. “We plan to connect India via beams distributing bandwidth even to remote areas,” said Pavuluri. “We also wish to build digital highways for transfers, thus contributing to India’s digital economy.”
About an hour by road from Ananth Technologies’s Hyderabad premises is Skyroot Aerospace (aka Max-Q). A model of Vikram (rocket) greets visitors. Inside, engineers are assembling rockets on a busy floor. This is India’s first private integrated rocket development facility, inaugurated in October 2023, located close to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
Founder Pawan Kumar Chandana grew up in Visakhapatnam and studied mechanical engineering at IIT Kharagpur. “I loved working with machines and that inspired me to take mechanical engineering,” he said. The IIT environment, he said, normalised entrepreneurship. “I always wanted to start a company; at IIT I realised it is doable.”
Chandana, who graduated with a dual degree (bachelor’s plus master’s) in 2012, was campus recruited by ISRO and joined its Thiruvananthapuram rocket-making facility. He worked there for six years and was part of the LVM3 programme. The experience was formative, but he wanted to make his mark on rocket technology. “I thought that when companies like SpaceX can do it, why not Indian companies,” he said. In 2018, many in the investor community did not understand the sector and it was not easy to fund a startup.
But, Chandana got an early break. Mukesh Bansal, founder of Myntra, put in Rs10 crore. Hyderabad was the natural base for Skyroot—the city’s proximity to DRDO laboratories provided both testing infrastructure and a talent pipeline. Since then, Skyroot has raised $95.5 million, with GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund), Temasek and Sherpalo Ventures among its major investors.
The company’s technical proposition is focused on small rockets. “We will not build the big rockets costing billions, but the smaller rockets which cost only a few million dollars,” said Chandana. Vikram is built from carbon fibre, which is five times lighter than steel and more fuel efficient. Its upper stage uses 3D printing. In 2022, Skyroot became the first private Indian company to conduct a rocket launch, sending Vikram-S on a suborbital mission. Around 90 per cent of Skyroot’s customers are foreign. The next step—Vikram-1, a full orbital rocket—is in final preparation (two-three month launch timeline). It is 95 per cent indigenous and is expected to see strong demand from the telecommunications sector.
In a commercial building in Begumpet, in the heart of Hyderabad, Dhruva Space is quietly doing work that belies its modest surroundings. The company was founded in 2012 by Sanjay Nekkanti. It has since become one of the most prolific private space companies in India, launching eight space assets across four missions in 24 months.
Nekkanti recalls the early days with wry clarity. “When I used to travel by bus people used to ask me where I work, and when I told them space products they used to think that I worked in a furniture company,” he said. In 2010, when he was an engineering student, the idea of a private Indian satellite company was remote. At the time, many people assumed that satellites would have to be the size of a house. What Nekkanti had spotted, mentored by ISRO’s small satellite division, was that the size and cost of satellites had fallen dramatically. He built his first while still a student, aged 19, and never really stopped. “I realised that in a country of a billion people, there was not much traction in the private sector and this motivated me to create a space company,” he said.
The early years were spent supporting academic institutions in building satellites and finding workarounds to the high entry barriers at ISRO and DRDO. The space policy reforms changed that. “Post the reforms, instead of talking to different people, I can go to one body,” said Nekkanti. “IN-SPACe handholds us and helps us connect with different organisations and ensures that the response comes back to us in reasonable time to ensure that our mission is not disturbed.” Also, access to ISRO’s infrastructure—expensive to replicate—became more straightforward.
Dhruva’s record is noteworthy. It is the only Indian private space company to have completed four PSLV launches, and in August 2025 became the first Indian company to integrate a satellite directly on to a SpaceX Falcon 9. Dhruva currently has an order book of approximately Rs450 crore, with customers in India, the Middle East, Europe and Australia. It currently manufactures between 10 and 12 satellites at a time, and is building a 2.8 lakh sqft facility. It will have facilities for design, engineering, assembly, integration and testing of spacecraft up to 500kg, with a dedicated 30,000sqft solar panel assembly line. The new facility will enable the company to make 100 satellites a year.
The company’s vendor network of around 550 suppliers, many of whom have long supplied ISRO and DRDO, gives it remarkable supply chain maturity. It collaborates with IIT Hyderabad, where it has a centre of excellence, and with the Raju Institute of Technology. “We do three things for the customers—building satellites, launch and delivering earth stations for operating the satellite by themselves,” said Nekkanti.
The PSLV C62 failure in January was a setback for Dhruva. Among the losses were systems supporting 10 missions across six Indian states and two countries. Nekkanti said the company’s focus was on a “measured and timely turnaround”.
Bengaluru-based Pixxel occupies a different niche. Founded in 2019, the company has built its identity around hyperspectral imaging: capturing data across hundreds of wavelengths (uses span agriculture, mining and energy). Its six Firefly satellites form one of the world’s highest-resolution systems for earth observation.
“The creation of IN-SPACe, the new space policy, and ISRO’s willingness to share infrastructure and technology have unlocked opportunities for private companies to operate meaningfully across the value chain,” said founder Awais Ahmed.
Pixxel was selected for NASA’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition programme—one of the few Indian companies to achieve this—and has reseller partnerships in North America, Europe and Asia. “Pixxel is among the few Indian companies whose hyperspectral data is used by scientists and researchers worldwide,” said Ahmed. The company is also contributing to IN-SPACe’s public-private partnership programme to build a national earth-observation constellation. Through this, Pixxel’s manufacturing and hyperspectral expertise are being leveraged to strengthen India’s sovereign space capability and create a shared data infrastructure.
Challenges remain, particularly around component sourcing. “Certain high-end parts, sensors and materials still need to be sourced internationally, which can complicate procurement and scheduling,” said Ahmed.
Chennai-based Space Kidz India operates with a different approach. It is perhaps best known for KalamSat—the world’s lightest satellite, 3D-printed by students. “We also developed an indigenous satellite deployer, a compact, efficient system designed for launching student payloads into suborbital and orbital missions,” said founder and CEO Srimathy Kesan. “These innovations demonstrate how student-led research can contribute meaningfully to India’s growing space ecosystem while inspiring young minds to dream bigger.” Space Kidz is currently running Mission ShaktiSAT, aiming to bring together 12,000 girls from 108 countries to co-create and launch satellites.
Kesan sees technology transfer from ISRO to private companies as a force multiplier. “Accessing the research and systems from ISRO and other premier institutions will enable private space players to focus on customising, optimising and commercialising those technologies,” she said. “It will reduce costs and development timelines, and help us to channel resources towards advancing new-age innovations.”
On the broader challenge of building a private space ecosystem in India, she is more measured. “Over time, things have improved, but challenges (logistics delays, import costs and certification barriers) persist,” she said. “The silver lining is that industrial base for space components is growing. We are rapidly moving toward self-reliance.”
India’s space economy is currently valued at around $8 billion. It is estimated that it can grow to $44 billion in less than a decade. The policy architecture is in place. The infrastructure is being built. The rockets, increasingly, are going up.