On Thursday 5 November, Telangana IT Minister D Sridhar Babu inaugurated Base 1, the country's first private facility dedicated to in‑orbit servicing, space sustainability and extending satellite life, situated in Hyderabad.
The 14,800 square‑foot complex houses design labs, test chambers that replicate space conditions and a mission‑control centre where space robots are built, tested and operated. It marks the sixth such facility worldwide and follows Cosmoserve Space's recent USD 6 million seed round, bringing total funding to more than USD 9 million.
Founder and CEO Chiranjeevi Phanindra highlighted that within its first year the startup launched its maiden payload on an Indian rocket, secured seed capital and now offers a one‑stop site for designing, building, testing and flying missions. He warned that space debris is becoming a limiting factor for every nation, adding that Base 1 will help keep orbits usable for Gaganyaan, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and future satellites.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, speaking virtually, said India is emerging as an early global pioneer in active debris removal. He cited Cosmoserve's collaborations with Pixel for satellite systems, Dhruv Aerospace Netherlands for propulsion and Skyroot Aerospace for launch services as evidence of an end‑to‑end partnership culture.
Singh noted the Indian space economy, now close to USD 9 billion, is projected to reach USD 40–45 billion within a decade, while the startup ecosystem has grown from a handful to nearly 450 enterprises. He urged both domestic and foreign investors to increase participation and called for greater philanthropy in science to accelerate innovation and achieve technological self‑reliance.
Image: siasat.com
📰 Source: Siasat Gulf