- Indian space startup EtherealX raises $5 million in seed funding to develop fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicles for cheaper, faster satellite launches.
- EtherealX's Razor Crest Mk-1 spacecraft aims to carry 8 tons to low Earth orbit in fully reusable mode, with capacity for up to 24.8 tons in disposable mode.
Indian space company EtherealX has raised $5 million in seed funding to develop fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicles. Their goal is to make satellite launches cheaper and faster.
The number of space launches has significantly increased in recent years, but costs still remain high and wait times long. SpaceX, for example, has launches booked until 2026, even with ride-sharing. EtherealX aims to address these issues by developing next-generation launch vehicles and spacecraft to lower transportation costs, speed up scientific progress, and advance civilization.
“When bringing back the upper stages, the reentry heat is so much that the refurbishment cost is almost always more than the fresh vehicle itself. So, we built from scratch a completely new rocket engine cycle, which, coupled with the deployment system, allows us to operate our engines efficiently in both vacuum and atmosphere,” said Manu J. Nair, CEO of EtherealX.
EtherealX plans to compete with SpaceX with its medium-lift spacecraft, Razor Crest Mk-1. This spacecraft aims to carry 8 tons to low Earth orbit in a fully reusable form. It can also transport over 24.8 tons in a disposable mode and 22.8 tons in a partially reusable mode.
Razor Crest Mk-1 can deliver payloads to geostationary transfer and trans-lunar injection orbits. Additionally, EtherealX claims it can operate at $350-$2,000 per kilogram, significantly cheaper than SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and just 1/35th of the global average launch cost.
Furthermore, a TechCrunch report states that EtherealX currently outsources its rocket engine production to avoid high manufacturing costs but plans to manufacture the rockets in-house eventually. Also, the company plans to test its technology with a demonstrator vehicle (TDV) launch in 2026.
EtherealX aims for a full orbital launch to about 400 kilometers with the initial vehicle, using the same engine type as the full-scale model but with fewer engines: four on the upper stage and one on the booster stage.
Edited by Harshajit Sarmah
