TeamIndus
TeamIndus is India’s first private space exploration startup, originally formed to compete in the Google Lunar XPRIZE. While the XPRIZE ended in 2018 without a winner, TeamIndus (operating under parent company Axiom Research Labs) came very close to launching a private lunar lander - they designed a spacecraft capable of soft-landing on the Moon and a small rover named “ECA”. TeamIndus won $1 million in XPRIZE milestone prizes for its lander engineering and secured a launch contract on ISRO’s PSLV. Though that Moon mission didn’t take off due to funding deadlines, the company pivoted to leverage the tech developed. Today, TeamIndus offers its expertise in space systems engineering as a service: it consults on complex missions (lunar and interplanetary), does R&D on planetary rovers and lander tech, and is positioning to possibly bid for upcoming lunar or deep-space projects (e.g. under NASA CLPS or ISRO’s exploration roadmap). The spirit of TeamIndus – “Har Indian ka Moonshot” - also lives on in outreach; they run an innovation foundation that encourages students to participate in space design challenges.
Lunar Lander & Rover: TeamIndus developed a fully functional lunar lander (capable of 20 kg payload) and a lightweight rover named ECA (Earth’s Child, Ambassadors). This hardware, though unflown, is a product the company continues to refine – for instance, they’ve proposed it for future Moon missions.
Mission Design Services: The company provides mission planning and spacecraft design consultancy. In 2019, TeamIndus was briefly part of a consortium (OrbitBeyond) that won a NASA CLPS contract to land on the Moon. Although that contract was canceled, TeamIndus’s role signified its capability.
Capacity Building & Training: It partners with ISRO’s capacity building program to train students in satellite and rover design (TeamIndus has hosted numerous interns and organized the “Lab2Moon” contest that invited youth experiments for the Moon).
Spacecraft Avionics: Some of TeamIndus’s developed IP – like precision landing software, vision-based hazard detection, and lightweight structure design – are now offered to other satellite makers under license or partnership. In essence, TeamIndus’s current “service” is know-how – it sells the knowledge gained from attempting a Moon shot, keeping the dream alive of one day completing a private lunar mission.
Meet the Team
Founders
Rahul Narayan (Founder & CEO) - a former IT professional who rallied a team for GLXP; Dhruv Batra, Sameer Joshi, Indranil Chakraborty, among others were early co-founders in the GLXP effort. Rahul Narayan remains the figurehead, often speaking about the journey and lessons of TeamIndus. The technical leadership during the mission included Col. Satyanarayana (ex-ISRO, lander structure lead) and Dr. P. S. Nair (ex-ISRO, guidance lead).
