Cosmoserve Space Launches India's First Space Debris Removal Facility in Hyderabad
Cosmoserve Space has inaugurated Base 1, India's pioneering facility for space debris removal and satellite servicing.
In an exciting development for the Indian space sector, Cosmoserve Space has opened Base 1, marking the country’s first private facility dedicated to space debris removal and satellite servicing. Situated in Hyderabad, this facility is the sixth of its kind globally and is equipped with advanced technology for space vision effect and microgravity simulation.
Integration of Space Services
Base 1 consolidates all the necessary infrastructure for various aspects of space servicing. It offers the capabilities to design, build, test, and operate essential functionalities required for both satellite servicing and space debris recovery.
In addition to debris removal, Base 1 will also facilitate in-orbit repairs and refueling of satellites. Currently, Cosmoserve sources nearly 60% of its mission components from domestic suppliers. With the launch of this facility, the company aims to enhance in-house technology development and bolster local manufacturing capabilities, decreasing reliance on imported components like optics and avionics.
Significance of the Facility
The inauguration on Thursday was graced by Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, who emphasized Hyderabad's role as a hub for space innovation. He remarked, “Facilities like Cosmoserve’s Base 1 highlight why we are at the forefront of space tech. Our city hosts over 30 spacetech companies, including India's first spacetech unicorn and several rising stars.”
Chiranjeevi Phanindra, the Founder and CEO of Cosmoserve Space, expressed the significance of Base 1 by stating, “Today, we have opened a facility that allows us to design, build, test, and operate our missions all in one place. Space debris is a significant barrier to all nations' space efforts, including India. Base 1 will enable us to keep our orbits usable for the Gaganyaan mission, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, and future satellites.” In July 2026, Cosmoserve successfully launched its first payload, Mission Embrace, utilizing the Vikram-1 rocket from Skyroot Aerospace.
Confronting Space Debris Challenges
Space debris represents a critical issue for the global space industry. Currently, there are around 28,000 satellites in orbit, with nearly 10,000 of them being non-functional. Alongside these inactive satellites, the Earth's orbit is congested with approximately 68,000 debris objects smaller than 10 cm and a staggering 230 million fragments varying from 1 mm to 1 cm.
Even tiny fragments can dangerously threaten functional satellites and missions like the International Space Station (ISS) due to their high velocity. To date, more than 660 collisions and explosions have been recorded in space, producing nearly 58,000 tracked debris fragments.
As the number of artificial satellites continues to grow, the imperative for active debris removal and satellite servicing becomes increasingly vital to maintain the sustainability of the global space economy. With projections of around 1.3 million new satellites set to launch in the next decade, the urgency for these services is mounting.
Innovative Solutions by Cosmoserve
To tackle these challenges, Cosmoserve has introduced a proprietary Dual Spacecraft Architecture. This innovative design shifts away from the traditional one-to-one recovery model—where a dedicated spacecraft services a single satellite—to a more economically efficient two-to-many approach. In this system, a larger Orbital Service Station functions as a logistical hub in space, transporting fuel, equipment, and spare parts, while a smaller Autonomous Service Vehicle visits multiple satellites for diagnosis, repair, or removal.
This architecture is capable of enabling just two spacecraft to service approximately 100 satellites, reducing servicing costs significantly from around $10 million to below $1 million per satellite.
By cultivating these capabilities in Hyderabad, Cosmoserve seeks to make orbital servicing more cost-effective through localized manufacturing and engineering. Looking ahead, the company's future projects include testing its robotic capture systems during microgravity flights, re-launching Mission Embrace, and executing a full-scale space debris capture demonstration planned for 2027.