Gets Indian lab experiments ground-tested and flight-ready for microgravity
TL;DR Zerogready helps Indian scientists who want to run an experiment in microgravity but have never built space hardware. It runs their samples on ground simulators first, then designs and builds a flight-ready payload for ISRO's orbital platform or a crew mission. Universities, research institutes and biotech firms pay per project.
Indian demand is real but new. When PSLV-C60 flew in December 2024, 10 of the 24 payloads on its orbital platform came from start-ups and academic institutions[1][2]. Among them were a spinach-cell module from a private university and a gut-bacteria experiment from a Bengaluru engineering college[2]. ISRO then picked seven experiments from Indian institutes, including ICGEB, IISc, InStem and Kerala Agricultural University, to fly on a private space station mission in 2025[3].
Most of these teams are biologists, not spacecraft engineers.
They have to learn about launch vibration, power limits, sealing, sample fixing and timelines on their own, and a lot of good questions never reach orbit because of that.
The seed asked for a dedicated, reusable vehicle for microgravity research. That's a launch or space-station programme costing far more than a startup can raise. India already has flight slots on PSLV's orbital platform and on crew missions, and ISRO plans a station by 2035[3]. The gap is getting experiments ready to use them, so that's what Zerogready does.
What it does, in regulatory terms: research engineering services only. Flights are authorised through IN-SPACe and the launch provider[4]. Zerogready makes no medical or therapeutic claims about results.
A lab brings its question. Zerogready first runs samples on ground simulators, such as random positioning machines and clinostats, to check whether the effect is worth flying at all. If it is then the team designs a small automated payload around the experiment, handles vibration and thermal testing, writes the safety and interface documents, and supports the lab through integration and data return. Each finished design becomes a reusable module for the next customer.
The scientist is the user. The payer is their institute, usually through a research grant, or a biotech or agri-science company's R&D budget. Ground simulation can be sold per run and flight engineering per payload. I found no public Indian price for either, and the closest foreign services don't publish prices[5][6]. Test the price against a grant line, not a company budget.
ISRO opened its PSLV orbital platform to outside payloads and flew 10 non-government experiments on a single launch in December 2024[1]. In April 2025 it said the 2025 station mission should seed a national microgravity research base, with a station targeted for 2035[3]. The 2023 space policy also asks ISRO to build a framework for research linked to human spaceflight[4].
Nobody publishes what India spends on microgravity research. The narrowest signal is the count of teams already trying - 10 non-government payloads on one PSLV flight[1] and 7 institute experiments chosen for the 2025 station mission[3].
That's a small, early customer base. Plan for tens of projects a year, not hundreds.
One US firm builds automated labs and manufacturing platforms for microgravity, with work in drug development and plant science[5]. A German firm offers science and lab services for orbital biology and sells random positioning machines for ground simulation[6]. In India, labs build payloads themselves with ISRO's help.
I found no Indian company offering both ground simulation and payload engineering to outside labs.
| Difficulty | Hard (54/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹1–2 Cr |
| Time to launch | 12–18 months |
Trust and timing are the hard parts. You need flight-qualified engineers and a clean first mission before institutes hand you a grant. Flight slots follow ISRO's schedule, so revenue follows launches you do not control, and ground simulation is the cash business while you wait.
Yes, flights need approvals, though ground simulation work doesn't.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Never let AI write the final safety case or interpret results as health findings. Those need engineers, peer review and the lab's own scientists.
Want to work out the AI layer for Zerogready? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I think this is right for a team that pairs a space-hardware engineer with a life scientist, ideally one who has already flown a POEM or space station payload. If you're hoping to sell to pharma at scale soon then it's the wrong idea.
What do you prove first? That five Indian labs will pay for ground simulation runs within six months.
Expect roughly ₹1–2 Cr over 12–18 months, covering ground simulators, vibration and thermal test kit and engineering staff.
Yes. Payloads need IN-SPACe authorisation and the launch provider's safety review, and biological work may need biosafety approval.
Yes, and markets with commercial station access are bigger. Each country has its own launch licensing, so check with your space agency.
The free Zerogready validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the space-authorisation and biosafety checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for research labs, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Zerogready or something close to it? The make-or-break work is flying one clean payload and turning it into repeat projects, and I can help you plan the road to that first flight. 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.