Deep Tech Startup Aule Space Secures ₹2 Million Funding Led by pi Ventures

Aule Space has raised $2 million (around ₹18 crore) in a pre-seed funding round led by pi Ventures, as per press release.  

Angel investors in the round include Eash Sundaram, a former board member of satellite operator Intelsat, and Arvind Lakshmikumar, chief executive officer of defence imaging company Tonbo Imaging. The company disclosed the funding in a statement. 

Use of Funds 

The company said the funds will be used to hire additional engineers, build ground-based docking and testing facilities, and continue work on its first demonstration satellites.  

These satellites are planned for launch next year and will be used to test close-range operations and docking in orbit. 

Issue in Geostationary Orbit 

Satellites placed in geostationary orbit need fuel to maintain their fixed position over the Earth. When fuel runs out, these satellites are generally taken out of service, even if their hardware remains usable.  

The company estimates that commercial communication satellites worth over $100 billion in geostationary orbit are expected to stop earning revenue due to fuel depletion, as there is no regular in-orbit servicing system in place. 

Technology Being Developed 

Aule Space is developing small satellites designed to dock with existing satellites and provide propulsion support. The work is based on rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD), which allows one satellite to approach, manoeuvre close to, and attach to another object in space.  

The company is focusing on docking systems that can work with older satellites that were not built for servicing. It says this approach can extend the operating life of geostationary satellites by up to six years. 

Aule Space Background 

Founded in 2024, Aule Space is working on satellites that can dock with and service other satellites already operating in orbit. The startup has been part of the Entrepreneurs First accelerator programme and is backed by the Transpose Platform.  

It has also received early support from India’s space ecosystem, including seed funding of about ₹80 lakh from IN-SPACe. 

Founding Team 

Aule Space was founded by Jay Panchal, an early engineer at Pixxel; Nithyaa Giri, a founding engineer at Trify EV; and Hrishit Tambi, who previously worked with scientists from the European Space Agency at LibreCube. 

Read More:  India Accelerates Space Push With Plans for Lunar Presence by 2035! 

Conclusion 

Aule Space will use the upcoming in-orbit demonstrations to assess the performance of its docking systems. The tests are expected to inform future satellite servicing missions. 

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