IIT Madras-incubated Inbound Aerospace raises $1 million to build autonomous re-entry spacecraft

IIT Madras-incubated spacetech startup Inbound Aerospace has raised over $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest, with participation from Piper Serica.

Founded in 2025 by Aravind I B, Vishal Reddy, and Capt (IN) Abhijit Bhutey (Retd), Inbound Aerospace is developing autonomous and reusable re-entry vehicles designed to support in-orbit experiments, microgravity manufacturing, and commercial space research.

The startup will use the fresh capital to accelerate the R&D of its re-entry spacecraft, validate key sub-systems, and achieve critical design review milestones. The startup said that its technology is uniquely positioned to address a growing gap in microgravity infrastructure as the International Space Station (ISS) nears decommissioning in 2030. 

“Microgravity environments are extremely hard to recreate on Earth. Our spacecraft is designed to enable cost-effective, repeatable, and safe return of payloads conducting in-orbit experiments and manufacturing — a capability that’s critical to unlocking the next wave of growth in the space economy,” said Aravind I B, Co-founder & CEO of Inbound Aerospace. 

Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner at Speciale Invest, said, “We believe re-entry vehicles will become foundational infrastructure for the microgravity economy. Inbound’s deep-tech ambition spanning autonomy, material science, and systems engineering is bold and timely. We’re backing this team because they are not just thinking of access to space, but access back from space, which is equally critical for a sustainable orbital economy.” 

Initially pre-incubated at IITM Nirmaan, Inbound Aerospace is now formally housed at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. The startup was the only Indian finalist at Japan’s S-Booster 2025, a prestigious space-business idea competition hosted by the Cabinet Office of Japan. It aims to launch its first re-entry MVP mission by Q1 2028.