India’s Space Taxi Mission: Stardour Aerospace Builds ‘Lucas’ for Orbital Logistics Revolution

The private space industry in India is also taking giant leaps as a startup company based in Hyderabad, Stardour Aerospace, comes up with a multi-purpose space taxi by the name Lucas. The company was started in 2020 by Sankarsh Chanda, who intends to address the issue of the so-called last-mile delivery in space, i.e., moving satellites until their final serviceable points.

Lucas has been designed as a reusable orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), which can be used on several occasions beyond satellite transportation. It has the capability to carry research, refueling, and space debris elimination payloads, and is therefore a possible game-changer in orbital logistics.

• Notable Innovation: The spacecraft has a liquid oxygen–liquid hydrogen propulsion system that is in-house developed and tested at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
• Funding Objective: The startup is also in the process of raising ₹15–20 crore to grow its staff, testing center, and hardware development.
• Timeline: Stardour will perform its initial in-space demonstration by 2027–28, making India one of the players in the world as far as satellite servicing and in-orbit operations are concerned.

Founder Sankarsh Chanda stressed that Indian startups in space should innovate and not copy, and create technology that can compete on the global arena. Provided it is successful, Lucas may become one of the milestones of the Indian aerospace ecosystem of the private sphere, which will make the dream of space logistics-as-a-service a reality.