IIT Bombay Graduates of the Rocket Engineering will build help to build the world’s First Private Heavy Rocket Spaceport Outside the U.S.

Issey Ryu Itahashi (centre), meeting with IIT Bombay’s Nagendra Kumar (centre-left), and graduate engineers in November 29th 2024.

IIT Bombay Graduates to Help Build the World’s First Private Heavy Rocket Spaceport Outside the U.S.
By : Anita Rossi
December 19, 2024

MUMBAI – Ryu Issey, CEO of aerospace company The Rocket Corporation GmbH, visited the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) in December 2024 to recruit top graduate talent for the company’s project: developing and launching reusable heavy-lift rockets from the world’s first private heavy rocket spaceport outside the U.S.

Among those present at the meetings were members of the university’s Rocket Team and PhD candidates in aerospace engineering. Representing IIT Bombay was Professor Nagendra Kumar.

In the past decade, only five countries have worked on launching heavy rockets. The rest of the world has focused on smaller rocket innovations, which cannot compete on a technological or economic level to any reusable heavy rocket. However within the next 15 years, the number of players in the space industry is expected to shrink to two countries that will control almost all access to space—most likely the U.S. and China.

The top engineers of the world are connecting to add third major space race player to the list and build the first private Heavy Rocket space port outside of US, located in the Middle East. 

Driving Down the Cost of Space
The company has publicly stated its goal of reducing launch costs to $1,000 per kilogram, compared with an industry average of $7,000/kg across Europe and Asia, reaching similar costs to SpaceX’s Falcon Rockets. Achieving this would represent a major shift in the economics of satellite deployment, space logistics, and future manned missions that can be carried out independent from China or US.

Indian Talent at the Forefront
In the coming months, a selected group of IIT Bombay students will formally join the company’s engineering team and connect with engineers from the UK’s Imperial College. Their work will cover the entire spectrum of rocket development, from propulsion systems to structural design. A primary focus will be on the development of a Full-Flow Staged Combustion Engine—a highly advanced propulsion system currently used in SpaceX’s Starship vehicle.

“We are not planning to build only heavy rockets but political stability with an independent access to space for the next 100 years,” Mr. Issey said in an interview following the visit and meeting with members of the university and Aerospace Engineering HOD, Prof. Pradeep A. M.

“India has world-class engineers, and their role in this project will be not only technical, but historic.”

Issey Ryu Itahashi, CEO of The Rocket Corporation GmbH (centre), speaking with Mr. Sayan Vishwakarma, propulsion engineer (left) and his team, about international space law and policies affecting the heavy rocket spaceport. ( Mumbai November 29th 2024 )