SpaceFields Private Limited, an Indian deep-tech startup based in Bengaluru specialising in the design and manufacturing of solid propulsion systems and energetic materials for aerospace and defence, has completed the design, manufacture and delivery of a solid propulsion system to a Naval Armament Inspectorate of the Indian Navy.
Sudarshan Samal, Co-founder and CTO at SpaceFields said the rocket motor was successfully hot-fired both at its private facility and at a Naval site, with consistent performance recorded in both tests.
The successful hot-fire at both locations serves as a validation step, demonstrating that the motor’s thrust profile and burn rate are predictable and repeatable across different environments. The development marks the company’s first hot-fire of a rocket motor for the Indian Navy.
SpaceFields said it has been a participant in the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework, the Ministry of Defence’s programme for integrating startups into the military supply chain. Samal stated that the company has engaged with multiple branches of the Indian Navy over several years, including discussions on long-term capability development and indigenisation pathways, as well as technical exchanges with naval armament teams and inspectorates.
The Navy has also approached it to support the indigenisation of foreign-origin, high-energetic subsystems. SpaceFields said it views this engagement as participation in the Navy’s broader technical ecosystem rather than as a conventional vendor relationship.
Founded in 2021, SpaceFields emerged from the incubation ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, focusing on chemical propulsion technologies traditionally associated with state-run organisations. The company was established by researchers and engineers from IISc, including Apurwa Masook, Sudarshan Samal and Naman Priyadarshi.
The company focuses on solid propellants used in tactical missiles, interceptors and sounding rockets, citing their long shelf life and rapid-launch capability. SpaceFields said it is developing custom propellant grains designed for higher burn efficiency and mission-specific applications, ranging from small tactical motors to larger satellite launch stages.
Beyond the recent Naval hot-fire, the company said it has conducted multiple static fire tests of small-diameter motors and is expanding its facility to handle larger, high-thrust motor production. In late 2024, SpaceFields raised USD 800,000 in a seed funding round led by YourNest, with participation from strategic angel investors, including veterans from the Indian defence and aerospace sectors.
SpaceFields Private Limited is a Bengaluru-based deep-technology company engaged in the development and manufacture of solid propulsion systems and energetic materials for aerospace and defence applications.