Bengaluru Startup Unveils India's First Private Full-Flow Staged Combustion Engine

Bengaluru-based startup Astrobase Space Technologies has unveiled EVEREST, marking India's first privately developed Full-Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) rocket engine. The development signals a major leap in the country's private aerospace capabilities, moving beyond small satellite launchers toward high-thrust, orbital-class propulsion.

The EVEREST engine produces 800 kN of thrust—placing it in the 80-tonne class—and utilizes a combination of liquid oxygen (LOX) and methane as propellants. Designed for a reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, the engine targets a specific impulse of approximately 340 seconds and features a throttle range between 50% and 110%. According to company data, over 70% of the engine was indigenously developed and manufactured in Bengaluru. While the hardware is now fully integrated, the engine remains in the pre-test stage, with hot-fire trials scheduled for the coming months.

The Complexity of FFSC

Full-Flow Staged Combustion is regarded as one of the most complex and efficient propulsion architectures in existence. Unlike simpler engine cycles, FFSC maximizes efficiency and improves thermal management for turbomachinery, making it a critical technology for rockets intended for repeated use. Historically, this architecture has been the domain of national space programs in the U.S., Russia, and China, or elite commercial entities such as SpaceX with its Raptor engine.

For the Indian private sector, the transition to FFSC represents a shift in ambition. While previous domestic startups focused on smaller, single-use vehicles, the pursuit of a high-thrust, reusable engine aims to address the systemic bottlenecks of orbital infrastructure. Neeraj Khandelwal, CEO of Astrobase, described the FFSC cycle as the "holy grail of rocket engines," noting that it provides some of the highest efficiencies for lifting payloads to orbit.

Shifting the Global Balance

The successful deployment of such technology could position India as a significant alternative to the current launch monopoly held by the United States and China. By reducing the cost of access to space through reusability and high efficiency, Astrobase aims to create a "second pole" in the global space equation, according to Khandelwal.

This development comes at a time when the global space economy is increasingly reliant on heavy-lift capacity to support mega-constellations and deep-space exploration. A domestic, privately developed medium-lift capability would allow India to scale its orbital presence without relying solely on state-run agencies or foreign providers.

The Road to Orbit

Despite the integration milestone, the path to commercial operation remains rigorous. The upcoming hot-fire trials will be the first critical test of the engine's stability and performance under actual combustion conditions. If these tests prove successful, Astrobase intends to move toward flight integration.

The company has set an ambitious timeline, targeting its first orbital flight and the commencement of commercial operations by December 2028. Observers will be watching the results of the initial test fires to determine if the startup can translate its integrated hardware into a reliable, flight-ready propulsion system.