IN-SPACe offers ₹67.15 crore to four space firms for iodine thrusters, in-orbit refuelling, deep-space clocks and NavIC chips
IN-SPACe has picked Manastu Space, InspeCity, VyomIC and MumbaiSemi as the second cohort of its Technology Adoption Fund, offering ₹67.15 crore in milestone-linked support for propulsion, satellite servicing, precision timing and navigation chips.
India's space regulator has picked its second set of companies under the Technology Adoption Fund (TAF), and the list reads like a map of the gaps India still has to close in its space supply chain. On 31 October 2026, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said it had selected four non-government firms — Manastu Space, InspeCity Space Laboratories, VyomIC and MumbaiSemi — and offered them a combined ₹67.15 crore to take indigenous technologies in satellite propulsion, in-orbit servicing, precision timing and satellite navigation closer to market.
What was announced
According to reporting by PTI and other outlets, the four offers break down as follows:
- Manastu Space Technologies — ₹22.08 crore for an iodine-fuelled satellite engine.
- InspeCity Space Laboratories — ₹21.18 crore for technology that supports refuelling satellites in orbit.
- VyomIC — ₹12.55 crore for precision clocks intended for deep-space navigation.
- MumbaiSemi — ₹11.34 crore for chips that work with both GPS and India's own NavIC navigation system.
The four amounts add up exactly to the ₹67.15 crore headline figure. IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka framed the awards as a step towards cutting India's reliance on foreign space technology and growing space exports. The money is released against milestones, and progress is tracked against the scheme's requirements rather than paid out as a lump sum.
How the Technology Adoption Fund works
IN-SPACe announced the ₹500 crore TAF in February 2025. It is designed to help Indian non-governmental entities absorb, adapt and commercialise advanced space technologies — in practice, to carry promising hardware from the lab-proven stage (Technology Readiness Level 3 or 4) to flight-ready or near-commercial maturity (TRL 7 or 8 and above).
The fund shares cost rather than covering it. Start-ups and MSMEs can get up to 60% of a project's cost, larger companies up to 40%, and no single project can receive more than ₹25 crore. Two of this round's awards — Manastu's and InspeCity's — sit close to that ceiling, a sign of how capital-intensive propulsion and servicing hardware is.
This is the scheme's second cohort. In June 2026, IN-SPACe made its first TAF selections: Astrobase Space Technologies, SatSure Analytics India and TM2SPACE Technologies.
The four bets, and why they matter
In-orbit refuelling (InspeCity). Propellant exhaustion can end a satellite’s useful operating life even when other systems remain functional. Refuelling in orbit could extend the working life of expensive spacecraft by years and is one of the building blocks of a future "space logistics" economy. Only a handful of countries have demonstrated pieces of this capability. A domestic refuelling interface also fits with India's own ambitions for docking and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
The bigger picture
India opened its space sector to private companies in 2020, and IN-SPACe was set up as the single-window body to authorise and promote them. Authorisations and private investment have both grown since then, but much of the money has gone to launch vehicles and Earth-observation satellites. Critical subsystems — propulsion, clocks, RF chips, servicing hardware — are still often imported.
The TAF is aimed squarely at that layer. Each of the four selected technologies is a component that many other Indian space companies need, so success would benefit the wider ecosystem, not just the four recipients. The cost-sharing design also means the companies have to put in their own capital, which keeps the scheme commercially grounded.
What happens next depends on execution. Milestone-linked funding means the money reaches companies only as they show progress. For Manastu and InspeCity, the real test will be flight demonstrations. For VyomIC and MumbaiSemi, it will be whether satellite and device makers adopt their clocks and chips. If even two of the four reach flight or volume production, the ₹67 crore will have bought India a meaningful step towards a self-reliant space supply chain.
Sources
- https://theprint.in/india/in-space-offers-rs-67-cr-to-four-indian-space-firms-to-develop-indigenous-tech/3087163/
- https://www.indianweb2.com/2026/10/in-space-offers-67-crore-to-four-more.html
- https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/in-space-to-invest-6715cr-in-4-indian-space-startups/tldr
- https://www.indiandefensenews.in/2026/10/vyomic-secures-in-space-technology.html
- https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/in-space-selects-three-space-startups-for-funding-under-technology-fund-126061100952_1.html
- https://indianinfrastructure.com/2025/02/21/in-space-launches-technology-adoption-fund-to-support-spacetech-startups/
- https://entrackr.com/snippets/deep-tech-startup-vyomic-bags-16-mn-led-by-speciale-invest-10487621
- https://www.nationpathindia.com/national/india-commits-116-crore-in-financial-support-to-manastu-space-for-indigenous-green-propulsion-technology
- https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/india-launches-nvs-03-navigation-satellite-gslv-rocket