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Bengaluru-based Astrobase Space Technologies unveiled EVEREST on 7 August 2026 as India's first privately built 80-tonne-class Full-Flow Staged Combustion rocket engine.
The engine burns liquid oxygen and liquid methane and produces 800 kilonewtons of thrust.
It has a specific impulse of about 340 seconds and can be throttled between 50% and 110%.
Astrobase was selected under IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund on 10 June 2026 for indigenous development of the engine.
The company was founded in 2024 by former ISRO propulsion engineer Devakumar Thammisetty and CoinDCX co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal.
In a rocket engine, propellants must be pumped into the combustion chamber at very high pressure, and the pumps themselves need power. Different engine cycles solve this differently. In full-flow staged combustion, both propellants — fuel and oxidiser — pass through separate preburners that drive the turbopumps before entering the main combustion chamber, so nothing is discarded overboard. The cycle is associated with higher efficiency and lower thermal stress on components than simpler cycles, because each turbine runs on a gas mixture rich in its own propellant rather than on a hotter, more corrosive mix. It is also among the hardest cycles to build, which is why very few engines worldwide use it.
Simple Analogy: Simpler engine cycles are like a machine that burns some of its own fuel and vents the exhaust out of a side pipe. Full-flow staged combustion routes every last bit of that exhaust back into the main furnace, wasting nothing.
Astrobase Space Technologies is founded by former ISRO propulsion engineer Devakumar Thammisetty and CoinDCX co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal.
The company completes sub-scale hot-fire tests.
Turbopump trials are completed.
Astrobase is selected under IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund for indigenous development of the 800 kN LOX-methane engine.
The EVEREST engine is unveiled.
Full-scale hot-fire tests are scheduled.
GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology — space, indigenisation, private sector participation
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A liquid rocket engine cycle in which both propellants pass through preburners before entering the main combustion chamber, giving higher efficiency and lower thermal stress.
A standard measure of rocket engine efficiency, expressed in seconds; EVEREST's is about 340 seconds.
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, which promotes and authorises private participation in India's space sector.
Varying an engine's thrust during flight, essential for controlled ascent, landing and recovery of reusable vehicles.