Fire and offgassing tests for materials going into Indian crew cabins
TL;DR Cabinproof is an Indian test lab for the materials that go inside crewed spacecraft - seat fabric, wiring, foams, adhesives, plastics. It checks whether they burn, what gases they release and how they behave in oxygen. Suppliers to Gaganyaan and the planned Indian station pay per test campaign.
Anything placed inside a sealed cabin with people breathing its air has to be screened. NASA's standard for this, NASA-STD-6001, sets the requirements and test methods for flammability, offgassing and compatibility, and it was updated again in June 2025[1]. ISRO's crewed programme runs on similar rules.
India's crew module is built with industry. HAL makes the structure, a Goa composites firm supplied a carbon-fibre adaptor in December 2023, and a design-services company built recovery models[2]. As more private firms supply cabin parts, each one needs its materials tested, and I'm not aware of a single commercial lab in India that offers these tests. So suppliers wait for slots in government labs or ship samples abroad.
What it does, in regulatory terms: materials testing to published spacecraft standards, as an independent lab. It does not certify flight hardware, and the customer's prime contractor or ISRO decides acceptance. Lab accreditation and gas-cylinder safety rules apply.
The seed proposed leasing modular habitats in orbit, and I reframed it. India's own station is not due to fly its first module until 2028, with completion planned for 2035[3], and leasing private habitats is far beyond what an Indian startup can fund. Every habitat, Indian or foreign, is built from materials that must pass these tests first, so the lab sits in the habitat supply chain from day one.
Cabinproof would run upward flame propagation, offgassing analysis and oxygen-compatibility tests, and hand customers a report formatted for their prime contractor. Later it can add aircraft-cabin and submarine-material tests, which use related methods.
Buyers are quality and materials engineers at Indian firms supplying crew-cabin parts, plus the primes that integrate them. Payment is per test campaign. I couldn't find a public price list for these tests in India or abroad, so your early quotes will set the price. NASA's White Sands facility offers related oxygen-systems materials testing[4], but foreign labs mean shipping, export paperwork and long queues.
India's space policy commits ISRO to demonstrate human spaceflight and to build a roadmap for sustained human presence, along with the industry to support it[5]. Gaganyaan's crewed flight is listed for 2028 and the station's first module for the same year[2][3], so supplier qualification work is happening now.
There is no public figure for spending on crew-cabin materials testing in India. The narrowest signal is the growing list of private firms already supplying the crew module[2].
The adjacent one - the count of Indian space startups passed 440 by 2026[6], though few work on crewed hardware.
ISRO and DRDO labs test materials internally, and DRDO supplies life support and fire suppression for Gaganyaan[2]. NASA White Sands tests oxygen-system materials[4]. Commercial labs abroad also test to NASA-STD-6001, but none was verified for this page. The gap is a commercial lab in India that suppliers can book directly, with turnaround measured in weeks.
| Difficulty | Moderate (49/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹2–4 Cr |
| Time to launch | 12–18 months |
The chambers and analysers can be bought. The hard part is getting ISRO and the primes to accept your reports, which means accreditation, round-robin tests against a known lab and a team that has run these methods before. Oxygen-enriched testing also needs strict safety design, because fire and pure oxygen do not mix kindly.
Yes. A test lab needs accreditation and gas-safety licences, though it never certifies flight hardware itself.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't trust AI to decide whether a material passes. Pass or fail is set by the standard, the raw data and an accredited engineer.
Want to work out the AI layer for Cabinproof? Talk to Yash →
I like this for a materials scientist with a fire-testing or aerospace quality background. If you're expecting fast growth then look elsewhere. Before you buy any equipment, get a written statement from ISRO or one prime that it would accept third-party reports from an accredited lab.
Plan for roughly ₹2–4 Cr, mostly on test chambers, gas handling and accreditation.
You need NABL accreditation for your reports to count and a PESO licence for stored oxygen and test gases. ISRO or the prime decides final acceptance.
Yes, wherever crewed or commercial space programmes need tests. Check your country's lab accreditation body and gas safety rules.
The free Cabinproof validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the accreditation and safety checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for suppliers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Cabinproof or something close to it? The make-or-break work is getting ISRO and the primes to accept outside test reports, and that's a conversation I can help you prepare for. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.