Cosmoserve Space raises $6 Mn seed led by Rebright Partners

Cosmoserve Space has raised $6 Mn in a seed funding round led by Japan-based Rebright Partners. Aranya Holdings and Naandi Ventures also participated, and existing investors AUM Ventures and Shakti VC put more money into the round.

The exact valuation has not been disclosed. Founder Chiranjeevi Phanindra said the valuation has doubled since the startup raised pre-seed funding in September. Cosmoserve has now raised over $9 Mn since inception last year.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital to support tech demonstrations, fuel two upcoming missions and enhance the operations of its recently unveiled Hyderabad facility.

Cosmoserve is building technology to remove defunct satellites and orbital debris from space and reduce the collision risks for operational spacecraft in a cost-effective manner.

It plans to optimise costs by building features into its craft that will allow it to refuel in-orbit and remove multiple pieces of debris in a single mission. Its core technology is a soft robotic capture system.

Its first tech demonstration, Mission Embrace-1, flew aboard Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket. The mission was designed to test the soft robotic capture system, but the system’s robotic petals failed to deploy as intended.

Cosmoserve claims to have now identified and addressed potential issues with the thermal mechanism used to release the petals and the impact of low temperatures on the system, according to Phanindra. Embrace-2, an upgraded version of the mission, is expected to launch in the coming months.

Alongside the funding announcement, Cosmoserve inaugurated its new space debris removal facility in Hyderabad, named Base 1. Phanindra says Base 1 is India’s first private and the world’s sixth facility equipped with space vision effects and microgravity simulation. It cost around ₹6 Cr to construct, per Phanindra.

In simpler terms, Base 1 can recreate conditions that spacecraft and equipment encounter in space, allowing companies to test how their tech will perform before an actual mission. It houses an orbital rendezvous and capture lab, an ISO Class 8 clean room for satellite integration, a mission control centre and a microgravity simulation platform.

Cosmoserve says it holds letters of intent from four satellite constellation operators: one from the US, one from Europe and two from India. It aims to get one paid customer before commercial operations begin.

Phanindra, who served close to 15 years with the ISRO before setting up Cosmoserve in June 2025, believes the startup will be able to complete all tech demos by 2027 and start commercial operations by 2028.

”We have several letters of intent from satellite constellation operators – one from the US, one from Europe and two from India. They have to abide by the regulation for removing the dead satellite from space … so we are aiming to get one paid customer before actual commercial operations begin,” he said.