In a country where the space dream is rapidly expanding beyond government boundaries, a young team from Prayagraj is building engines that could fuel India’s next generation of rockets. Trishul Space, a rocket propulsion startup founded by Aditya Singh, Divyam, and Rajat Choudhary, has raised ₹4 crore ($480K) in a pre-seed funding round led by IAN Angel Fund, with participation from 8X Ventures and ITEL.
The fresh capital will power the research, development, and testing of turbopump technology for Harpy-1 — Trishul’s flagship liquid rocket engine designed for small satellite launch vehicles.
“Building reliable propulsion systems has always been the toughest and slowest part of developing a launch vehicle. We want to change that,” says Aditya Singh, co-founder of Trishul Space.
At its core, Trishul Space is simplifying one of the most complex engineering challenges — propulsion. The company builds liquid rocket engines using staged combustion cycles integrated with AI-based failure detection, aiming to make propulsion systems faster to build, easier to scale, and more affordable.
Operating out of IIT Delhi’s Research & Innovation Park, with roots firmly in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, Trishul Space is catering to both government and private launch manufacturers. Its mission is to provide modular, ready-to-use propulsion systems so new players in the space industry don’t have to start from scratch.
As the global market for small and medium launch vehicles surges toward a projected $15 billion by 2030, Trishul Space sees an opportunity to redefine propulsion, which currently accounts for nearly 40% of launch costs.
With innovation at its heart and an eye on the stars, Trishul Space represents the growing wave of deeptech startups proving that world-class space innovation can emerge not just from big cities — but from the heart of India.
-By Muskan Dengra
