Hyderabad startup opens India’s first private space debris recovery facility

Hyderabad-based startup Cosmoserve Space on Thursday unveiled ‘Base 1’, touted as India’s first private facility and only the sixth in the world equipped with space-vision systems and microgravity simulation capabilities for satellite servicing and space debris recovery.

The facility was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh and Telangana IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu. Spread across multiple specialised laboratories, Base 1 combines satellite integration, space robotics, mission simulation and orbital capture technologies under one roof, enabling the company to design, build, test and operate satellite-servicing missions.

It houses an Orbital Rendezvous and Capture Lab, a Space Robotics Innovation Lab, an ISO Class 8 clean room for satellite integration, and a Mission Simulation and Control Centre. Beyond recovering space debris, the centre will focus on in-orbit satellite repairs, refuelling and maintenance services.

Congratulating the company, Dr. Jitendra Singh said the facility reflects the growing technological capabilities of India’s private space startups. Mr. Sridhar Babu said Hyderabad had emerged as a major spacetech hub, with more than 30 companies working on launch vehicles, space data centres, debris-removal systems and other advanced technologies.

Cosmoserve founder and CEO Dr. Chiranjeevi Phanindra said the company aims to address one of the biggest challenges facing the global space industry: orbital debris. Of the nearly 28,000 satellites currently in orbit, about 10,000 are non-operational, while millions of debris fragments pose risks to active satellites and space missions.

The startup has developed a proprietary Dual Spacecraft Architecture, comprising a larger Orbital Service Station and a smaller Autonomous Service Vehicle, to service multiple satellites and remove debris at significantly lower costs. The company estimates that the technology could potentially reduce satellite-servicing costs from around $10 million to less than $1 million per satellite.

The launch of Base 1 follows Cosmoserve’s recent $6-million seed funding round, taking its total funding to over $9 million. The company plans to test its robotic capture systems in microgravity flights, re-fly its Mission Embrace payload and conduct a full-scale space-debris capture demonstration by 2027.