Cosmoserve raises $6M seed round to clean up space debris

Base 1 opens in Hyderabad

Alongside the funding, Cosmoserve inaugurated Base 1, which Phanindra describes as India's first private facility, and the world's sixth, with space vision effects and microgravity simulation. It can recreate conditions spacecraft face in orbit so companies can test technology before flying it. Union minister of state Dr Jitendra Singh and Telangana IT Minister D Sridhar Babu attended the event.

Base 1 houses an orbital rendezvous and capture lab, an ISO Class 8 clean room, a mission control centre and a microgravity simulation platform. It cost around ₹6 crore to build and will also support in-orbit repair and refuelling work. Cosmoserve plans to use it to develop more components in-house and raise local manufacturing above 60%, reducing reliance on imported optics, avionics and space-grade electronics.

Second mission after a setback

The first demonstration, Mission Embrace-1, flew on Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket to test a soft robotic capture system. The robotic petals did not deploy as intended. According to Phanindra, the team has since addressed issues with the thermal release mechanism and the effect of low temperatures.

Embrace-2, an upgraded mission, is expected to launch in the coming months. A full-scale demonstration is also planned, aiming to approach within 10 metres of a dead satellite, which the company says would be a world record.

Phanindra, who spent close to 15 years at ISRO before founding Cosmoserve in June 2025, expects all demonstrations to be finished by 2027 and commercial operations to start in 2028. The company holds letters of intent from four constellation operators: one in the US, one in Europe and two in India. It aims to sign one paying customer before commercial operations begin.