Sitharaman hails India’s first flight-proven satellite battery from Hyderabad startup

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman praised Hyderabad-based space startup TakeMe2Space after its 'PowerBank-50' became India's first indigenously developed satellite battery to achieve flight heritage status. Reacting on X, she called it 'brilliant' and noted that until now, Indian satellite builders mostly imported this critical component at high cost and long waiting times.

The battery was deployed aboard Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket during its maiden mission 'Aagaman' on July 18. It powered Cosmoserve Space's experimental payload on the Orbital Adjustment Module at 450 km altitude and performed successfully throughout the mission, earning the flight heritage tag that validates in-orbit performance. The company said the compact battery stores over 50 watt-hours, weighs about 380 grams, and uses high-energy-density lithium-ion cells with an intelligent management system.

According to TakeMe2Space, the milestone should reduce India's dependence on imported satellite batteries, making satellite development more affordable for startups, research institutions and universities. The certification boosts confidence among satellite manufacturers, launch providers and insurers, who prefer hardware with proven spaceflight experience.