IIT Madras Partners With Startups To Build Aatmanirbhar Ecosystem For Space Technologies

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, announced today (30 September) that it will be collaborating with startups in the area of space technology through its in-house research-and-development (R&D) vehicle Pravartak Technologies Foundation.

Hosted by IIT Madras, Pravartak Technologies Foundation (PTF) is a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) for sensor, networking, actuators, and control systems. It is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).

The consortium of IIT Madras-PTF and the five partner startups has been named ‘Indian Space Technologies and Applications Design Bureau’ or I-STAC.DB.

The startups engaged in the effort are Dron Vayu Pvt Ltd, Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd, GalaxEye Space Solutions Pvt Ltd, Mindgrove Technologies Pvt Ltd, and Resileo Labs LLP.

With the founding members as the base, the I-STAC.DB initiative is calling on organisations with expertise in space technology and allied areas to join the effort.

According to IIT Madras, the space-tech collaboration will look to develop and commercialise technologies related to space and deep space with a focus on next-generation applications. They intend to build an “end-to-end aatmanirbhar” or self-reliant space-tech ecosystem.

In its statement, IIT Madras has listed several potential areas of focus, including space vehicles, rapid launch capability, satellite design and assembly as well as safety, next-generation communication technology like 6G, ground station infrastructure, and space debris management.

IIT Madras PTF faculty in-charge Professor V Kamakoti sees this consortium as “a Guru Kul, a premium knowledge centre for India and the world to tap”.

Establishing a knowledge centre is indeed part of the consortium’s mission. The goal is to enable companies to design, develop, and manufacture components for space and allied areas.

In addition, the effort seeks to establish a design bureau to facilitate development of training programmes, R&D, integration of various systems, and lifting technical capabilities in space and allied technologies.