InspeCity raises $1.5 million for servicing satellites, building 'space cities'

(L) InspeCity's Co-founder and CTO Tausif Shaikh and CEO Arindrajit Chowdhury

Mumbai-based space tech start-up InspeCity, which is developing technologies that can provide servicing to satellites while in orbit, announced on April 25 it has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest, a deep-tech venture capitalist.

Founded in 2022, the start-up also has a long term of aim of building "cities" in space -- in a suitable orbit between Earth and the moon. A release by the company said InspeCity envisions "building space factories that support a true in-space economy and eventually building the city".

The round was co-led by Antler India and Veda VC. Other investors participating in the round include Anicut Capital, DeVC India, and others.

The investment will be used by InspeCity to demonstrate that a defunct satellite can be docked with a de-orbited satellite using the company's Vehicle for life-Extension and Deorbiting Activities (VEDA) platform. A deorbited satellite is a satellite that's been moved to an area of space that isn't heavily populated.

The VEDA platform will autonomously locate the defunct satellite and dock with it using a proprietary robotic mechanism named Remotely Actuated Motorized Arm (RAMA), the release said.

Secondly, the funding will be utilised to develop InspeCity's technology further and expand its team, it added.

"This (funding) will tremendously help us further develop our technology for in-orbit servicing and autonomous robotic platforms. Our vision is to create a new economy in space and build human habitats that transcend the limitations of our current planetary systems,” said Arindrajit Chowdhury, CEO, Inspecity. Chowdhury is also a professor at the mechanical engineering department of IIT Bombay.

"The company's innovative technology, particularly its autonomous robotic platforms and in-orbit servicing capabilities, holds promise for the future of space exploration and development...," said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner at Speciale Invest.

As of now, InspeCity has raised around $1.8 million from the government's Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) platform for the development of micropropulsion systems for cubesats. The company  has also received a grant of around $12,000 from TIH Foundation at IIT Bombay.