Jainul Abedin, Abyom SpaceTech: Building private launch vehicles and making space accessible in India

guys another CEO wisdom podcast Space Edition with General Aberdeen he is a young guy founding a very cool company called ABM space Tech uh we're going to talk about space we're gonna talk about is Young ambition his background General welcome to the Pod uh tell us a bit more about yourself and tell us a bit more about your company at the same time thank good Charles thank

you for having me here it's pleasure to be connected here so like you have taken an example like a dream of a small Youngs as all beginning in the childhood we have a dream to go into this space when we see the skies and the galaxies but if you come into the reality we go into the like is it possible to go into this space and become interest not so mostly 99 percent people are have only dream not able to make the dreams into reality so when I was a childhood I would also have a small dreams to become an astronaut how can you make a SpaceX accessible for everyone so into the childhood I was a dream like let's make a transportation system that can go from art to space and that is what

idea when life is 16 years old from like my school times and I when I like a serious Gap I build the plan how can you bake make a launch vehicle company which was like a privately build pockets and launch into this space so we know as in the graduation timing I thought it is the right time to push our dreams to the reality and at the age of 90 I started this company space Tech which are the main focus to build the original launch vehicle because if you see like into the global market only some key players are building the usual launch vehicle Technologies and NASA is after NASA is the private companies we talk is places in Bull original only that but if we talk about the attack like ACI Pacific regions and

especially in India like only ISRO has the only the government provider who are working into the rockets and building and launching into this space so we come into that like also how can we build this private space ecosystem and build the ritual Technologies so a small young dream can be make into the Realty and I will say like in 2020 we officially started the this company and

make up a number of profits to reach that goal to build the a rocket and launch into the space right um okay let's start with like yeah your age quite ambitious and I think it's a good decision for youngsters out there to go for their dreams straight off the bat because you're young you know you've got time to fail uh the kids are not coming and all

these um stability uh pillars in your life that are somewhat bad for moonshots and accomplishing big things in life so good decision on that you mentioned that yeah 99.99 people uh personal this planet are do not get to launch a space company let alone being an astronaut the astronaut that's yeah there's a lot of f zeros there um so like yeah congrats on that you've got guts

obviously you've got something different than most humans you've got this ambitious this energy uh and this you know these balls to act on uh your vision why do you think uh you have this discourage this boldness that most of your peer would never dream of having yeah so if we talk about that like mostly all our team and we also belong to the rocketry team during our

College times we have a Fascination to build a smaller profits and launch into the some like a height or approaches mostly so we have like a things like if in our initial times we have also launched you know the as a team into the like SA Cup that is happening into the USA so we thought like if we have work ability to build these small Rockets why we move to the building a company which is able to build the bigger rockets and can able to launch into the space so it is not only reporting humans into this space if we talk about now it is the necessity how the end contribution of the internet and data is coming so we need more satellites into the space so we create precise datas to use our Necessities

internet and other Communications telecommunications things so we thought like we built this type of Technologies and start doing from if you take like a three to four is definitely will reach that Milestones because already a number of company has proven the Technologies so we have to move and have to be act as a team to build this technology and make it true right then uh funding right

because these things they cost quite a lot you've studied uh space companies out there in the world feces are kind of catching up nowadays and dropping checks on these companies not because they're going to be profitable but just because this is like saying oh I launched a failures uh shaped object in the space and they can tell that to their friends around a glass of wine um

where did you get your money so far is it like the Indian government funding uh your your Venture so far yeah definitely because if you see like in India like we have a number of government supports we are getting so initially government started the supporting the new starters who are building some cutting-edge technologies so we got the different government grants to build our initial prototype of the

launch speakers so you can see like a couple of or like a half and one year in the journey we have building our own testing facility rocketing and testing possibility and this testing facility are very important because in all over India only isros has a facility to build the engine and test on their own testing facilities so initial we have covered with the government funds and now

we are moving like a progressing rpoc and moving to the next phase we'll definitely look for the VC funds so now we are in the prescription of that like how can we tackle the like private fundings and will be make it the like the launch vehicles in the coming years hey the testing facility are you mentioned well are you saying that this is like a some kind

of pad or a place where you can hold down rocket fire it and test its its power test if it will explode or not um I guess that's what you're you mentioned some kind of lab so in a warehouse somewhere in in India have you well I'm guessing you haven't started building the Rockets yet how much uh do you budget for that how much funding do you need to raise to start building these Rockets so if you can see like uh starting it's definitely looking forward to two to three million dollars for starting the Prototype of the engines next scaling the engine and all but in the coming future definitely you look for the more than 50 to 100 million dollars to make the whole launch vehicles and launch a device space so for initially

like we start with the five to ten million dollars and move to 50 to 100 million dollars to make it whole launch vehicle and starting the launching to the commercializing the rockets and how much percent of the company do you want to give up uh for two to three million so it's like under the like if you can say it's the due distance is already happening and

the financials are also ready so when the investors start approaching will be like it will give the more details of the data as what our financial like uh agreements and and what is the more details we are looking forward to raise and what are the terms and all so we make the proper financial plans and details as usually start approaching that will be revealed what the fund

on which timeline we require so it will be like under the parts will be when will we start approaching to the investors will be discuss how much we require and how can we offer them for right um and as part of that like most of these companies yes they depend on um on these uh on this VC money to build but they also have a bunch of government grants so how is India comparing uh to other countries in terms of financing Innovation but because I I know that uh in SpaceX case in the US or in Canada for example the government gives out quite a lot of money very substantial uh amount of money to finance these companies what about India yeah it's very important like if India is now is emerging then reporting a

lot of Innovative Technologies and Liberty startups if you say like uh NASA has opened uh the USA government opened the space sector privately a long time back but now I think we'll see like the India is also in 2020 government of India up in the space sector for the private players so if it says it's the Golden Era for the Indian space Technologies where government started supporting

and giving the more government supports with the like launching launch pad and facility providing mentoring supports and all so I will say as government has opened this special for the private players the most opportunities are bringing so how they can like bringing the more government supports into the launching as well as the like all the the government beneficiaries and all the policies because the policies are very

important how you will regulate so now I think the government of India has opened the space sector for the private players so it all the supports are coming from the history itself how the private space equation will emerge in India so I will say from funding to mentoring all the government of India supports are coming very quickly right when are you seeking a successful rocket launch and

what would be that rocket and what would be the purpose of that first successful launch okay so mostly we have a three launch vehicles uh and the three categories because of first one neither like a visual sound dropped it is called the several Rockets we know like it's subsystem going into this place before going into this place we have to be trial and I have to test

all the subsystems so for that we use a sounding rocket that is how little Rockets So we are planning this rocket into the 2025 end and then reviewing all the concept of the initial subsystem for the Unix and all the parts of the engine and the rockets will move for the next of our launch vehicle that is the small visual launch vehicle that has the ability to

put one to two turns like payload into the eye space so that is like uh have a capability tool like going we are going to launch up to the 2017 and and ultimately our ultimate launch vehicle that is the medium launch vehicle that can have a like the ability to go into the jio transfer orbit that is 3000 kilometers so that is mostly for the telecommunication and

if defense purposes so that we will we are planning to 2099 or 2030 and 2029 so in like four to five years from now uh well five to seven years from now right yeah yeah okay and how much launches do you want to do before you're successful are we saying three launches one will be successful out of three yeah so for the our rsr we are planning to launch uh multiple launches we call different for better launches and have a different commercial purposes also like we got microgravity experiments we do a lot of like a DNA atmosphere experiments so we are planning to launch this Rockets uh annually more than six times and srlb we are planning like a four initially for testing and all and then we'll be continue early and like have a

multiple per month launches will be awkward right and we're talking about three to five million per launch no it's like initial have a Indian budget but like if we go for this launch vehicle infection it will definitely go up to fifty two hundred million dollars because if what is the cost per launcher bro so it will be around 60 million dollars like for the initial first usual

launch vehicle wow so how it will then you can reuse the rocket so that yeah it's not as expensive yeah yeah it still looks quite expensive like SpaceX like well SpaceX really struggled initially in in building their their first rocket um so it mostly goes in r d and and testing and then because yeah like it's you can't like copycat a a rocket of SpaceX you really

need to build your own and that that's quite extensive um and then begs the question like who will your you hire to do this you know like because you're near Russia Russia has like great expertise uh but then there's your political questions um will you import Talent from uh the Silicon Valley I mean India has uh launched uh stuff before and that has some experience in in

the space so like is is India sufficient to provide the full Talent you need for your first successful launch is my question yeah if you talk about the building because you know spaces are already done blue origin also have uh done the vertical and ptbl testing and all so if you see in the last 10 20 years a number of already the research has been published a

number of data is already available the main thing I have to accumulate all things and have to be going to the right directions so in in that way like if you see if you bringing in the new R D team and have to be working on that so within three to four years if you're regularly working and the government of India has the supports also the issue which has the more ability or recently ever tested the rlb TD experiments And all I'll be real rate done so I will say definitely a number of already bunch of data is available a number of experiments already available so if we have to be replicate and have to be good precisely with the different technology aspects we can easily have achieve that because if you see rocket lab

and the and the companies have already taken that technology in the coming five to ten years so if you see like the the data already have a study and doing through the trial and error methods so we'll be easy in the coming times for that concept right okay and and then like you're quite young as a CEO like do you think this will manage matter if you

hire this rock star of an engineer that has built rocket how how do you make sure that they will accept your offer and take you seriously yeah definitely like if we start uh it's always starting this small right when we take these tips when we make it to the like uh a progress when you make the progress It's like things like yeah we are having a progress

and we have done something on hand so I will say like when I was in like a 2019 when I started so already we have covered four years and in the four years we have done a number of experiments number of progress we have already achieved the milestones we have covered in the four years last uh 2019 to 2023 it will be definitely like a glimples now now we are the one India is one of the key space Tech player so we have the now proven some capability okay we have to move for the next stages of the launching and after testing I also think that if you have a nice Board of advisors um just like board members that can help you quite a lot to get an authority and the trust of these

people and obviously money right if you have good money to attract them they're gonna accept your offer I do think also that if you attract Indian talent and have that have that Indian Pride you know you're you're gonna attract like top Downs gonna be like the the India team you know competing against the rest of the world now you mentioned Telecom gation and defense I need more

details on both of these so so communication obviously satellite is the future of the world you get connection everywhere startling style you can be in the Antarctic and working and making deals um that that is elon's dream uh connectivity everywhere you go in the world uh and constant connectivity like 99.99 of the time tell us about the telecommunication first and then I want to talk about the

defense stuff so the spy stuff and James Bond stuff to observe the villains from from space yeah yeah okay so if you talk about the satellites like expert data is like a 2030 is more than 40 000 satellites are going to be launched but if you see like the launch providers like a very limited into that yeah it is as we have data like more than 20 10 000 I have the solicitors who have this we need the who need the space services but in whole world only 28 companies who are the active launching the services and all so definitely there'll be a shortage of the suppliers in term of launch Vehicles companies so in the definitely we need a number of launch vehicle company who can put their like satellite into the orbit and

to that the things we need are in in this specific in India also like because have a very growing need of the data as well as the like a precise like a Google Maps and all the things so we have a need a private launch vehicle who can launch that and also like a very like cost effective way like if you talk about the like Expendable Rockets there are very more question payload capacities but bringing the reachable Technologies it will be like like reducing a lot of like bunch of money is inspect of the Expendable profits so I will say like this Market will be definitely be better in the different way and have to move into this spiritual category very quickly okay the defense stuff's now like uh India needs to have information and

defend itself from protect potential threats it is it like mostly imagery nowadays uh to for example in the Ukraine case I just finished Ashley Van's uh book about space which is quite good and it was this uh I forgot his name I know his pre-name max um he had this this company this space company and he used satellite all image to picture Russian troops at the Ukraine

border and he became a very central figure during the war helping defend Ukraine with his satellite technology which was quite cool um is this what you have in mind and how do you make sure that your technology is used for good Yeah so basically if you talk about the defenses as comes less security for every country's faculty is very important like uh and we need a number

of Confederation that doesn't all have to be secured to that but like in our perspective we are not able to go into this difference like as like but have a purposeful systems but the protocol systems which are building is a dual use of Technology into the into the systems so the duality of Technology of the Rockets are also into really depends so for the technology purpose you

have to definitely make sure we have indigenous technology in India you have not to be like uh import and like get for all things from outside and all so we are focusing to the different aspects where you could like help to make indigenous technology in India and which help Language by the Indian government and all so the not to be like aspect of the launching the like

the satellites which are like uh to be given the data but more into the indigenous technology in inspect of the persons and all the subsystems of the Rockets last question for you it looks to me very much that Rockets are outdated technology um I I believe that in five to ten years we're gonna see completely different Technologies seems to me very archaic to push the ground with

massive energy to get up um but I Elon is probably smarter than I uh 10x in that field why haven't anyone has a thought of a new solution um to get off the ground and and to accomplish her goals there like also why why Rockets do we need that much weight you know can we go just like way more lightweight uh can't we think of other technology to get off the ground to get in space what do you think about that so if you talk about the like when we start with the Rockets it's like uh we we always say like it's not rocket science like it's the toughest thing in the world but if that like that technology you have to be like already seen like how the regulations are effectively like not comprisingly

have to we only have to go for the launch it need a number of regulations from the government to the all the substation so the regulations are very challenging in aspect of if you build the Rockets but the regulations are very tight for any government foreign we can't launch from anywhere right so geopolitical Geo stationary and jio like situations are very critical for launching into the rockets

and like a number of countries can't be into that because they have not uh exact location from there we can launch rockets right so in respect of the inner India our jio location are very are like important where you can launch the Rockets right so it is like uh now the things are coming like if you see like 20 years back when this species is not then

the visual launch vehicle it's very tough for Imagine anyone but when a number of companies have proven this Technologies yeah we are capable so it's giving us all the Boost and have a confidence like if we come and have a right of kind of access if we do it can be definitely be easy to possible to make the reality so that's the things I will say like

a number of companies also come into the last 10 years who have make rockets and now successfully launching into the space so I will say like for India as well as like a brightening future into the rocket Technologies and we are definitely on the right path to make it Realty into that interesting it's been a cool talk General uh you're young you're bright and uh yeah you're

you're Fearless I really like that about you where can people find out more about you and abium definition thank you so much like uh yeah we are like a young minds we will say like and we have tiven like a it is not a number if we take this test we can definitely prove what we are going to achieve it takes time I will say definitely it takes three to four years when you have to be very struggle have to go into that very tough lines but when we cross the timelines of the difficulties in our life we'll go into the success path so I will say definitely we'll take have to action him to be considerately move forward so one day we'll definitely achieve our goals and all all right then people can find

out more about you at abiom.com abiom is with your why and yeah they can find out more about you on LinkedIn I guess yeah um I'm very active on the link yeah so Daniel Aberdeen on LinkedIn