From Idea to Implementation: Perspectives from a Spacetech Venture:

An evening with Pawan Kumar Chandana

On Friday, Nov 11, we had a fascinating webinar by Mr Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder of Skyroot Aerspace. This was the 30 th webinar in the WiseViews series.

Mr Chandana is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur (with a dual degree, ie BTech in Mechanical and MTech in Thermal Science). He spent 6 years as a scientist with ISRO and developed expertise in Small Satellite Launch Vehicles. During his stint at ISRO, he won two innovation awards.

Mr Chandana founded Skyroot in 2018. The company won the prestigious National Start Up Award 2020, being only one of 34 companies to achieve this distinction from 1600 entries.

Mr Chandana has achieved a lot even at this young age. He has interacted directly with the prime minister on many occasions and also been felicitated by Mr. KT Rama Rao, the Telangana IT minister. He has found a place in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia. His company has been listed by LinkedIn as one of the best start ups to work for.

The early days

As a student, Mr Chandana had a lot of fun. But by the time he reached IIT, he had become more serious. The IIT days gave him a lot of exposure to students from all over the country. Even during these days, the start-up fever was evident. But he hesitated to take the plunge immediately after college and decided to join ISRO.

After joining ISRO, Mr Chandana spent hours and hours learning more and more about rocket architecture. The passion soon became an obsession. Mr Chandana decided to dedicate his life to this sector. As Mr Chandana put it, while he did study engineering at IIT Kharagpur, he became a true engineer only after he worked at ISRO. If his life’s mantra is Think Big, Do Big, his dream is to build a space-based economy, engineering the spaceships of the future.

Becoming an entrepreneur

Mr Chandana could sense that a lot of action was happening in the space sector with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin making headline news. India had a cost-effective space program. Indian rockets cost less to make than a Hollywood movie. Thousands of satellites were likely to be launched over the next few years but few rockets were available. He wondered whether he could do anything in this sector from India. Of course, polices were still evolving and the private sector had a marginal presence. But Mr Chandana expected liberal polices to come soon. His tech and entrepreneurial calling gave him confidence and he was ready to take the plunge. What really helped was that his good friend, Bharat who was with him at ISRO agreed to become the cofounder. With his electronics engineering background, they had complementary skills. They decided to quit ISRO in the middle of 2018.

About Skyroot

Skyroot’s mission is to build technologies for responsive, reliable, and economic access to space. The company envisions a future where flight to space will be as common, reliable, and affordable as flying by a plane today.

Vikram, named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Program, is a series of launch vehicles especially crafted by Skyroot for the small satellite market. Covering a wide range of payloads, they are designed to make space travel affordable. These launch vehicles require minimal range infrastructure and can be assembled and launched within 1-3 days from any launch site.

India has had a strong space exploration program for over five decades, thanks to the great visionary Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. We have been growing by leaps and bounds as demonstrated through Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and now Gaganyaan. However, with all this expertise and infrastructure, our share of the global space market is surprisingly low. Our ecosystem is still rudimentary compared to say the US which has a fairly mature industry with capabilities in designing, building and commercialising space vehicles. This advanced eco system has been in the making for decades.

As Mr Chandana mentions in his blog, Skyroot, is contributing its bit to the rapid development of complex aerospace systems with lean use of resources. The company is building the first private Indian launch vehicle to put a satellite in orbit. The aim is to compete for a reasonable share in the international small satellite launch market which is estimated to be $16 bn in the next decade. Mr Chandana expects the tipping point to come in about 10 years, when space travel will become affordable to many people.

About satellites and rockets

As the NASA website explains, satellites are launched by putting them on rockets carrying tons of propellants. The propellants give the rocket enough energy to pull out of the Earth’s surface. Because of the pull of Earth’s gravity, the heaviest spacecraft need the biggest rockets and the most amount of propellent. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/launching-into-space/en/

Newton’s third law of motion is the most important principle behind how rockets work. The exhaust streaming out of the bottom of the rocket is nothing but the flames, hot gases and smoke that result from burning the rocket’s propellants. This exhaust provided the action force. In response, the rocket begins moving in the opposite direction, lifting off the ground due to the reaction force. But the Earth’s gravity is still playing spoilsport. The rocket needs enough propellants so that the upward thrust on the rocket is greater than the force of gravity pulling the rocket down.

A rocket needs to speed up to at least 17,800 miles per hour. It must fly above most of the atmosphere, in a curved path around the Earth to ensure that it is not pulled back down to the ground.

In case of a satellite that orbits the Earth, the rocket will launch, and when it gets to a specific distance from Earth, it will release the satellite. The satellite still has momentum pulling it in one direction. The Earth’s gravity pulls it in another direction. This balance between gravity and momentum keeps the satellite orbiting around Earth. Satellites that orbit close to Earth feel a stronger gravitational pull. To stay in orbit, they must travel faster than a satellite orbiting farther away.

Getting to another planet is a different ballgame. We need a fast-moving rocket to overcome Earth’s gravity. We need speeds of up to around 25,000 mph. The timing is also important. For example, Mars and Earth come closest to each other, once in two years. This is the best time to go to Mars, in terms of time and propellants required. But the exact time of the launch is also crucial. The spacecraft and Mars must arrive at the same place at the same time.

Early challenges

Mr Chandana mentioned the various challenges he faced as his startup began its operations:

• No proper government policies
• No testing facilities
• No support from ISRO
• Very sophisticated technology that was not easy to master
• No skilled manpower in the private sector
• Need to raise a lot of capital
• No business experience

The pandemic was another disruptive force. Everything came to a standstill for about a year. But the pandemic also surprisingly proved to be a game changer. The Modi government announced various reforms in the space sector. Mr Chandana signed his first MOU with ISRO. He raised capital from marquee investors and began to build a good team. He succeeded in making a rocket made up of carbon fibre using 3 D printing.

Q&A

From idea to implementation

The most important thing is taking the first step. If we take the first step, 50% of the challenge is over. We must not make the mistake of postponing. Once we take the first step, things start falling in place. The remaining 50% is about persistence. Every day, we will fall but we must keep getting up and moving forward.

Entrepreneurs should also think big. There are only 24 hours in a day. The time invested is the same whether it is a big idea or a small idea. We should not target a small market. When we aspire for the best, others will help us and the probability of success is also higher.

On raising funds

In India, it is easier to raise seed capital (Rs 10 crores in case of Skyroot). Growth capital (Rs 80-90 crores) was more difficult to come by. To get funds, we must approach the right people. Mr Chandana used cold calling to his advantage. Finally, he was able to onboard marquee investors like Mukesh Bansal, a space enthusiast. Later, he tied up Series A Funding of about $ 11 mn from Greenko founders, Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli. Once we approach the right people and share our dreams, there is a good probability of getting the funding.

On motivating the team

It is important to find people who are passionate about the business. Fortunately, social media is every effective in this regard. The first few employees were easier to find. Subsequently, things became difficult because of the limited supply of talent. So, Mr Chandana decided to start taking people from adjacent industries. While responding to another question, Mr Chandana mentioned that for deep experts in another domain (say automobiles), the skills they have developed are often transferable. So, one does not need space industry experience to get into the sector.

By building a good employer brand, Mr Chandana has been able to attract good people. Motivating people is not easy. As far as possible, we should try to get self-motivated people.

Once people come on board, it is also important to keep encouraging them. In an industry such as space, failures are bound to happen. So, we must maintain a cheerful and positive disposition and encourage people to keep moving forward.

On the landscape

The space sector can be divided into two broad segments: Upstream and Downstream. The upstream segment consists of rockets and satellites. PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) are the satellite-launch vehicles (rockets) developed by ISRO. PSLV is designed mainly to deliver earth observation or remote sensing satellites. GSLV has been designed for launching communication satellites. GSLV delivers satellites into a higher elliptical orbit (36,000 km altitude) , PSLV into a lower orbit (600 - 900 Km attitude).

The downstream segment consists of consumers. Various applications are possible for the downstream segment. These in turn fuel the demand for more satellites and launch vehicles.

The Communication industry is a major consumer of satellite services. 90% of communication is enabled by satellites. For a large country like India, satellite communication is a must. With the help of satellite images, fishermen can be guided to the right fishing areas, disasters can be managed better, and the borders safeguarded. Surgical strikes have been enabled by satellite pictures. So has direct to home television. Insurance companies also benefit from satellite imaging. GPS is possible because of satellites.

The global market is huge. There is a potential $ 50 bn market for Indian companies to take part in both the upstream and downstream segments thanks to the low-cost ecosystem and great engineering talent. However, a better regulatory environment is needed if Indian companies aspire to become global players. Mr Chandana is not worried about competition from other start-ups. He feels healthy competition is good for the industry. In fact, he feels that many more start-ups are needed to drive innovation.

Can this idea be a game changer?

We should examine the fundamentals carefully: unit economics, availability of resources including talent, demand and the ability to grab a large market share. Ultimately, gut feel will play an important role. How much ever we may study and analyse the environment, there is nothing better than to get started quickly. We must try out the idea fast. Even if we fail, it will be a stepping stone to success. Many startups have successfully pivoted from early failures, changed their business model and become successful. Start-up investors will not examine the idea with an ROI lens. They will rather check whether it is an investable idea. Is there some differentiation? Is there a competitive edge? Is there a credible plan to grab market share?

On protection of IP

Skyroot has kept most of its IP in the form of trade secrets. The problem with patenting is that the technology has to be disclosed to the world. IP resides in employees and documents. Documents can be leaked or hacked. Employees may carry trade secrets with them, when they leave the company. These are the key risks. It is important to manage them to make sure that IP is well protected.

On how to generate good ideas

Mostly, is it about common sense. The problem is that we do not believe in ourselves even when we get a good idea. We have various doubts in our mind: Is it too simple? Will it work? We should tackle any problem from the fundamentals. We should not dismiss any idea.

A business cannot succeed if it does not do well financially. Most entrepreneurs have not done an MBA or for that matter studied Finance. It is mostly common sense for them: trying out a new idea, knowing how much capital to raise, when to raise and whom to approach. If we get all these right, our venture will be successful.

On the role of biology in spacetech

There is a lot of research going on currently in microgravity. It is important to know how the body behaves during long flights in space. So far, only some 600 people have visited space. This number will multiply in the coming years. So, biology will be very important.

Reusable rockets

It is only a matter of when. SpaceX has already proved the concept. Skyroot also has plans. Reusability is absolutely essential if we have to make space travel affordable. Just as in the case of aircraft, if the same hardware is used multiple times, there will be huge benefits for society.

On the problem of debris in space

This is an important issue that must be carefully addressed as the number of satellites in orbit increases. End of life management is important to keep space debris free. In case of Skyroot, where possible, after the satellite is launched, the rocket is made to reorbit before bringing it down. Due to friction, the rocket burns out. Already, companies specializing in removing debris from space are emerging!

We thank Dr. Vedpuriswar for bringing out the highlights in the form of this note