He Quit ISRO To Start An Illegal Rocket Company | The SKYROOT Story ft. Pawan Kumar Chandana

Chandana says demand for communication and Earth observation satellites has risen while costs fell, citing solar panels dropping from about 200 to about 10 rupees per watt in 15 years. He says reusable rockets are bringing the same cost drop to launch.

He explains that rockets shed mass in stages as fuel burns, using solid fuel or kerosene, and newer rockets use methane and liquid oxygen. The host asks what happens if launch falls from about 2,700 dollars a kilogram toward 100.

Chandana argues the future of compute is in space because there is more solar energy per area, no land cost and no water for cooling. He says launch costs must fall to a few hundred dollars per kilo first. This is his forecast and a speculative view, not an established fact.

He says he joined ISRO after IIT because he wanted to work on the hardest machine, a rocket, and credits its culture of scientific temper, attention to detail and open discussion of failure. He describes leaving a secure job in 2018, when no policy allowed private launches, because building a company felt like a calling.

Chandana says he had no contacts or money and learned about term sheets by searching the web. A friend contacted investor Mukesh Bansal on LinkedIn; they met the next day and Bansal committed within an hour. He says the pitch was a bold leap of faith by two founders quitting safe jobs.

He describes the company as a logistics business, the Uber for space, serving small satellites below 300 kg that need unique orbits. He says a launch can earn up to 100 crore rupees and 20 launches would mean 2,000 crores. He contrasts this niche with SpaceX, which serves common orbits at huge scale.

He names launch, in-space services such as refuelling and debris removal, and space computing as areas for investors, and says investors should judge the founders because rocketry cannot be tested by outsiders. For a 23-year-old he suggests starting something, learning from open sources and building deep tech. His views on new policy and national priorities are his own.