Spacetech startup Ethereal Exploration Guild raises $20.5 Mn in Series A round

Space technology company Ethereal Exploration Guild (EtherealX) has raised $20.5 million in a Series A funding round co-led by TDK Ventures and BIG Capital, with participation from Accel, Prosus, YourNest Venture Capital, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, and Riceberg Ventures.

The startup had previously raised $5 million in its seed round led by YourNest, with participation from BIG Global Investments JSC, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, Golden Sparrow Ventures, Karan Bhagat and Yatin Shah of IIFL Wealth, Kiran Shetty, and Akhilesh Agarwal, in August 2024.

The proceeds will be used to develop its first fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, Razor Crest Mk-1, the company said in a press release.

Co-founded in 2022 by Manu J. Nair, Shubhayu Sardar, and Prashanth Sharma, EtherealX aims to take on SpaceX with a medium-lift launch vehicle called Razor Crest Mk-1. The rocket, designed to be fully reusable, is expected to place up to eight tonnes into low Earth orbit and will also be capable of delivering payloads to geostationary transfer and trans-lunar injection orbits.

According to the Bengaluru-based startup, it is currently building a fully reusable medium-lift (25-tonne) launch vehicle and has already developed the two engines that will power the vehicle’s two stages within 3.5 years. This approach reduces costs and makes launches more efficient. Razor Crest Mk-1, the medium-lift fully reusable launch vehicle under development, can carry up to 24.8 tonnes into low Earth orbit (LEO) and up to 10.8 tonnes into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

Ethereal aspires to disrupt the launch market by lowering orbital transport costs to a target range of $500 to $1,000 per kilogram. The company’s reusable upper stage utilizes a proprietary rocket engine feed cycle called the Full Flow Segregated Cooling Cycle (FFSCC). The startup uses in-house simulation tools and test infrastructure, which together contribute to improved vehicle reusability and shorter development cycles.

According to market research, the global space economy is poised for exponential growth over the next decade and is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.

The company claims to have manufactured its 80 kN upper-stage reusable engine, Pegasus, and has signed collaboration agreements with the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), ISRO, and other national space agencies, as well as commercial satellite operators, launch aggregators, and launch ports globally.