EtherealX
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | |
| Services | Launch vehicles |
| Website | www |
Ethereal Exploration Guild Private Limited is an Indian startup based in Bengaluru developing fully reusable vertical landing medium-lift space launch system at reduced cost and cut launch timeframes.[1][2] Founded in 2022, the company is currently developing India's largest private rocket engine facility in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.[3] The launch vehicle 'Razor Crest Mk-1' will be able deliver up to eight-tonnes to low earth in fully reusable configuration.[3]
Overview
[edit]The startup was founded by; Manu J Nair (Chief Executive Officer) who was briefly a part of the Gaganyaan, the manned spaceflight program of the Indian space agency, Shubhayu Sardar (Chief Operations Officer) a former ISRO engineer and graduate of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and Prashanth Sharma (Chief Technology Officer) an aerospace engineer.[1] It has raised US$5 million seed funding.[3][4]
Razor Crest
[edit]The mark-one variant of the launch system features an absolute reusable configuration in which both the booster and the upper stage are recoverable. The recovery of the upper stage comes with a crucial issue of fending off reentry heat, the startup intends to develop a new rocket engine cycle along with a deployment system to redirect the heat built up throughout the reentry phase. This will allow the system to operate efficiently in both atmosphere and vacuum. Thereby the launch system will be able to achieve pinpoint landing compared to the larger target landing zones in the case of traditional ballistic reentry.[3]
The rocket will be capable of launching up to 8 tonnes to low earth in fully reusable configuration and almost 24.8 tonnes to low earth in an expendable configuration.[1]
EtherealX Stallion
[edit]Once developed, the 'Stallion' as claimed will be the most powerful operational liquid rocket engine outside North America. Powered by RP1/LOX propellent, it will be able to produce a peak thrust of 925 kN. It features gas generator feed cycle and will have a peak specific impulse of 295 seconds at sea level and 330 seconds in a vacuum. 'Razor Crust Mk-1' will house nine of this engine.[1]
Launches
[edit]| S.No | Date / time (UTC) | Rocket Configuration |
Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Customer | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remarks | |||||||
| 1. | NET 2026 | Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) | TBA | TBA | LEO | TBA | Planned |
| The 35-meter tall and 2.5-meter wide technology demonstrator launch vehicle with a 1.2-ton capacity to 400 km low earth orbit. It will feature the same engine type as a full-scale launch vehicle, but in a smaller count. The launch is intended to verify the telemetry data and flight software for its future commercial launches. | |||||||
See also
[edit]- Space industry of India
- Indian Space Research Organisation
- New Space India Limited
- IN–SPACe
- Indian Space Association
- List of private spaceflight companies
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "EtherealX". EtherealX. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
- ^ PTI (2024-08-06). "Space start up EtherealX raises USD 5 million in seed funding". ThePrint. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
- ^ a b c d Singh, Jagmeet (2024-08-06). "India's EtherealX puts $5M seed toward fully reusable launch vehicles". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
- ^ "Spacetech startup EtherealX raises $5 million in funding round led by YourNest". The Economic Times. 2024-08-06. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-08-07.