The NXT Conclave 2025 saw an elite panel discussion on ‘NXT in Space’ with very high-profile people from the space sector. Panelists included Mr. Tanveer Ahmed, Co-Founder & CTO of Digantara; Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder & CEO of Agnikul Cosmos, Mr. Rohan M Ganapathy, CEO & CTO of Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., and Dr. Mike Massimino, NASA Astronaut.
The panelists shared their opinions on space exploration, technology innovation, and the potential of private space operations in India.
‘Being in Space is Magical,’ NASA Astronaut Dr. Mike Massimino
Dr. Mike Massimino, a NASA astronaut with much experience, has called his experience in space as “magical.” He elucidated the combined feelings of anxiety and awe involved in space travel.
“It’s interesting because it’s a bit stressful because you’re doing your job, whatever that might be on your mission. My missions were both on the space shuttle going to the two missions of the Hubble Space Telescope. So we did a lot of spacewalking, and the Hubble Space Telescope is this great instrument, very important, making great discoveries,” he said.
Despite the workload, he highlighted the teamwork that enables such missions. “It’s work. But at the same time, it’s just magical to be up there. The teamwork that we had with my crew and working with the people on the ground—those who prepared us and those who took care of us in mission control—supported us during the missions.”
Massimino was also full of praise for India and went on to say that this was his first time in the country. “I felt like I had been here before because I had seen it so often from space as we fly over it and I would admire it.”
Space Propulsion and Mobility: Rohan M. Ganapathy’s Vision
Rohan M. Ganapathy, CEO & CTO of Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., spoke of the significance of space mobility and propulsion in making deeper space travel possible. Being asked if he ever wanted to travel to space himself, he replied, “Well, that’s the final goal for anybody getting into space entrepreneurship, for example, you always have this fascination of going to space, but build technologies that go to space.”
Ganapathy underscored that space propulsion is important to achieve new frontiers, like the Moon and Mars. “Going to the moon, going to Mars. That’s where we come. And we’d love to see a future where that becomes a reality.”
He also pointed to India’s quick growth in private space technology. “Going to the moon, going to Mars in our lifetime. And now that India is also awakening to privatization in the space sector, so are, believe me or not, in 2018, there were four companies. Now there are 300 companies in India working on space.”
Private Launchpads in India: Srinath Ravichandran’s Journey
Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder & CEO at Agnikul Cosmos, discussed establishing a private space firm in India and the development of government support. “So when we started in 2017, literally the number of people who ask me the question of whether it’s even legal to build a private rocket company in India is way too many to answer. Yeah, right. And from there, in 2022, with the government support, we were able to set up our own private launchpad within the country.”
He referred to the change in India’s space industry as incredible, particularly in the early days. “I mean, as a founder, raising money is one of the things that you always think about. A lot of questions where, you know, they had to figure out the best explanation to say, Will India allow you to launch privately? Right.“
India’s Private Space Sector on the Rise
The panel session at NXT Conclave 2025 highlighted India’s phenomenal rise in the space industry. Privatization on the rise, coupled with government funding, India is fast emerging as a hub of space innovation. The learnings from industry experts and visionaries once again instilled confidence that India is to be a big player in world space exploration shortly.
