Ethereal Exploration Guild, an Indian space technology better known as EtherealXhas climbed 5.5 times in value to $80.5 million after its latest round of funding. The startup is developing a launch vehicle designed to be fully reusable and is preparing hot-fire engine tests ahead of the first technology demonstration flight, scheduled for 2027.
The Bengaluru-based company confirms it has closed a $20.5 million Series A oversubscription round led by TDK Ventures and BIG Capital, as TechCrunch reported earlier. Accel, Prosus, YourNest, BlueHill, Campus Fund and Riceberg Ventures also participated, EtherealX said. The raise follows a $5 million seed round in August 2024 that valued the startup at $14.6 million.
As India pushes to mature its space ecosystem beyond contracting small launchers and components — aiming to grow its space economy to $45 billion from $8 billion the next decade — EtherealX is among the startups getting attention.
Satellite operators around the world are looking for greater launch capacity and scheduling flexibility in a market where SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has set the benchmark for pricing and pace. EtherealX is targeting this space with its fully reusable vehicle designed to return both the booster and upper stage. This is an approach that, if proven, could lower the cost per launch and increase the frequency of flights without relying on a native constellation to keep the missiles fully engaged.
EtherealX is developing two engines in-house: the 80 kg ‘Pegasus’ top-tier engine and the 1.2 meganewton ‘Stallion’ engine booster, with hot-fire testing targeted for June-July. Thrust, measured in kilonewtons and meganewtons, indicates how much lift force an engine can generate.
The startup is targeting a November-December 2027 launch window for a technology demonstrator vehicle, with commercial missions expected to begin in late 2028, co-founder and CEO Manu J. Nair said in an interview.
Rocket engineers also monitor specific pulses, a widely used proxy for fuel efficiency, which — along with thrust — helps determine a vehicle’s payload for a given amount of propellant.
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The Pegasus engine produces 323 seconds of vacuum-specific boost and uses what the startup describes as a proprietary “split full-flow cooling cycle.” The engine incorporates an internal pump that is manufactured additively. In addition, the Stallion booster engine uses a gas generator cycle and delivers 306 seconds of specific thrust at sea level.
Nair told TechCrunch that EtherealX plans to assemble multiple engines per stage for the main medium-lift vehicle, called the Razor Crest Mk-1, with nine Stallion engines in the booster and 15 Pegasus engines in the upper stage.
By comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 primarily reuses its first stage booster while exploiting the upper stage. EtherealX aims for deeper reusability by designing its vehicle to return both the booster and the upper stage.
EtherealX’s vehicle aims to carry up to 24.8 tonnes in expendable configuration, 22.8 tonnes partially reusable and around 8 tonnes when fully reusable. The startup aims to charge $350 to $2,000 per kilo over time, Nair said, depending on configuration and pace.
To support development, EtherealX operates a rocket engine test site in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, known as Base 001, which Nair said is focused on upper-stage engine certification. The startup has also secured a 150-acre manufacturing and testing campus in Andhra Pradesh’s proposed space city that it expects to be operational from mid-2026 for comprehensive engine and stage testing.
EtherealX has signed memorandums of understanding for the launch totaling about $130 million with customers including Japan’s Space BD and Taiwan’s space agency TASA, Nair said, as it looks for early commercial demand before the first demonstration flight.
The latest funding will be used to complete flight certification of the Stallion booster engine and to conduct group firing tests of the Pegasus upper stage engines, Nair said. To support this growth, the startup currently employs 67 people and expects to grow to around 90 within the next two months as it ramps up production capacity and moves into a higher pace of testing ahead of the first demonstration flight.
