Yashas Karanam (left), and Rohan Ganapathy of Bellatrix Aerospace
Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India
A recommendation letter from former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, 10 years ago, set Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam on their entrepreneurial journey to explore the final frontier.
It had started a few years before that letter, as a college project for Ganapathy. The letter, however, led to a ₹20 lakh seed grant from JSW Steel and helped him and Karanam take the next early steps. Today, their venture Bellatrix Aerospace is on the cusp of commercialising an in-space propulsion engine and a greener rocket fuel alternative.