Archive · 8 Aug 2026
Astrobase unveils EVEREST, India's first private FFSC rocket engine
Astrobase is a company in India that has built a brand new rocket engine named EVEREST.
It is the first engine like it ever made by a private company in India.
The engine is very strong — it pushes with the power of 800 kilonewtons, which is about as heavy as 80 tonnes.
It burns liquid oxygen and methane, which are clean fuels that are good for rockets that can be used again and again.
The special design uses up all the fuel, making the engine super powerful and efficient.
Only a handful of companies in the whole world have built such an engine.
Astrobase says lots of satellites will be launched over the next ten years, so India needs strong engines of its own.
The company plans to make up to 50 engines every year and send about 100 tonnes into space each year at the start.
But the engine has not been fully tested yet, so it still has to prove that it works.
Astrobase hopes to fly its first rocket into orbit in December 2028.
Astrobase Space Technologies unveiled EVEREST, an 800 kN full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine it calls India's first privately built high-thrust engine of its kind.
Powered by liquid oxygen and methane, the engine has a claimed specific impulse of about 340 seconds and a throttle range of 50% to 110%.
No full-scale hot-fire test has been completed yet — one report says trials could begin in the coming months while another says timelines are not finalised.
Astrobase says it is the fourth company globally to fully design, manufacture and integrate a high-thrust FFSC engine; SpaceX is the only firm to have flown one to orbit.
The company targets its first orbital flight by December 2028 and plans capacity for about 50 engines a year, scaling from 100 to over 1,000 tonnes of annual launch capacity.
- Who
- Astrobase Space Technologies, the Bengaluru-based space startup founded by CEO Neeraj Khandelwal and former ISRO scientist Devakumar Thammisetty, with IN-SPACe's Rajeev Jyoti, IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Lieutenant General AK Bhatt of the Indian Space Association attending the unveiling.
- What
- Unveiled EVEREST, an 800 kN full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine powered by liquid oxygen and methane, designed for reusable medium-lift launch vehicles.
- When
- Unveiled on Friday, August 7, 2026; the first orbital flight is targeted for December 2028.
- Where
- Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, where the engine is designed and manufactured; Astrobase also operates a propulsion testing facility in Andhra Pradesh.
- Why
- To build indigenous high-thrust propulsion and scalable launch capacity, positioning India to capture a larger share of the global space economy as tens of thousands of satellites are expected to launch in the coming decade.
- Engine name
- EVEREST
- Engine type
- Full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine
- Developer
- Astrobase Space Technologies
- Propellants
- Liquid oxygen and methane
- Thrust
- 800 kilonewtons (80-tonne class)
- Status
- Unveiled; full-scale hot-fire testing not yet completed
- Production target
- Up to 50 engines annually
- Target first orbital flight
- December 2028
Sources
India enters elite rocket-engine club as Astrobase unveils 800 kN FFSC engine
Astrobase unveils India’s first private 800 kilonewtons FFSC rocket engine, targets 1,000-tonne annual launch capacity
India’s Private Space Sector Reaches New Heights as Astrobase Unveils First FFSC Rocket Engine ‘EVEREST’
