Shake and vacuum test campaigns that clear small satellites for rideshare
TL;DR Shakebay runs the environmental test campaign a small satellite needs before a rideshare provider will fly it - the test plan, fixtures, sensors and data, booked into existing Indian test facilities. Satellite startups and university teams pay per campaign. It works if it saves first-time teams months and a failed launch.
Small satellites often die early, and first-time builders lose the most. Among university-class satellites that reached orbit between 2000 and 2015, nearly 30% were dead on arrival and another 15% failed early. For universities with three or fewer launches, the share was above three-fifths[1].
Testing is where that risk gets caught, and it's also where first-time teams get stuck. One major US launch provider's rideshare guide prefers protoflight testing of the fully integrated satellite, advises thermal vacuum cycling and asks for a test report that lists every reworked fastener[2]. Every single one. A ten-person Indian team has usually never written such a plan, built a shaker fixture or booked a thermal vacuum chamber.
What it does, in regulatory terms: a test-engineering service. Shakebay does not launch, operate or certify satellites. The launch provider accepts or rejects the test evidence, and the satellite owner stays responsible for its IN-SPACe authorisation.
Here's the flow - a team sends its CAD model, mass, target rideshare and launch date. Shakebay writes a test plan matched to that provider's levels, designs and machines the fixture, and books slots at the IN-SPACe Technical Centre or a qualified lab. Its engineers then run the campaign on site with their own accelerometers and data system, and hand over a report in the format the provider expects.
I reframed the seed, which pitched AI that optimises rideshare launch access. Booking seats is already covered elsewhere in this directory, and manifests are set months ahead anyway. The step that sinks schedules and satellites is qualification, so that's what Shakebay sells.
The satellite owner pays. That means space startups building their first or second satellite, university teams and research labs flying a payload. Larger builders with their own test halls aren't your market. My assumption is a fixed fee per campaign plus a charge per fixture, with facility time passed through at cost. Foreign integrators bundle similar help into their seat price.
Government test capacity is opening up to private firms. The IN-SPACe Technical Centre in Ahmedabad opened in March 2024 with vibration, thermal vacuum and clean rooms[3]. In May 2026 the Department of Space approved two more common facilities in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, including a ₹100 crore testing centre at Thoothukudi[4]. Capacity is arriving faster than the know-how to use it.
There's no public figure for spending on small-satellite qualification testing in India. The narrowest signal is the 136 Indian spacecraft, including private and academic ones, launched to Earth orbit by the end of 2024[5]. Each new one needs a test campaign. Treat that as a count of possible customers, not revenue.
The IN-SPACe centre provides the equipment, not the test engineering. ISRO's UR Rao Satellite Centre first opened its testing to privately built satellites in February 2021[6]. Exolaunch in Berlin helps customers integrate with rideshare flights, but it does not run test campaigns in India[7]. I found no Indian firm that sells packaged rideshare qualification campaigns.
| Difficulty | Moderate (40/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹45–90 L |
| Time to launch | 6–9 months |
The engineering is well understood but it doesn't forgive mistakes. You need people who've run vibration and thermal campaigns before, usually from ISRO or defence labs. Facility access is the other hard part, because you depend on slots the government controls and on rules that may change as the new centres open.
Shakebay needs no space licence of its own, since it neither launches nor operates satellites.
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 satellite passed. A qualified engineer and the launch provider make that call on the real data.
Want to work out the AI layer for Shakebay? Talk to Yash →
I'd back this, but only for a founder with real test-lab experience and a network among Indian satellite teams. If you want to build a lab first then don't. Buy fixtures and sensors, not shakers. Prove one thing before raising - five campaigns booked in a year, each passed by the launch provider on the first submission.
Plan for roughly ₹45–90 L, mostly for experienced engineers, fixtures and sensors, since you rent test facilities rather than buy them.
Not a space licence. You need access to IN-SPACe or qualified lab facilities, and your customers hold their own IN-SPACe authorisation.
Yes, small-satellite teams everywhere need this. Check local export-control rules and which test facilities you can book.
The free Shakebay validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the rules checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for satellite teams and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Shakebay or something close to it? The make-or-break work is securing reliable facility slots and hiring engineers who've run real campaigns, and that's something I can help you plan. 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.