Indian startup unveils 150-acre rocket testing facility near Sriharikota

The site is intended to integrate manufacturing, testing and refurbishment for its fully reusable RCM1 launch vehicle.The facility’s operational core is the commissioned Pegasus Horizontal Static Test Facility.New Delhi,Oct 16, 2026 17:01 ISTIndian space startup Ethereal Exploration Guild has unveiled a 150-acre rocket development and testing facility near Sriharikota, marking a step towards building the ground infrastructure for its planned fully reusable launch vehicle.Called The Anchorage, the facility is located in Space City, Andhra Pradesh, approximately 40 kilometres from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR), India’s primary spaceport.The facility’s operational core is the commissioned Pegasus Horizontal Static Test Facility, which the company says supports pressure-fed rocket engine testing at pressures of up to 210 bar.The company has scheduled the first hot-fire test of its 80-kilonewton Pegasus engine for November 2026. The company has scheduled the first hot-fire test of its 80-kilonewton Pegasus engine for November 2026. (Photo: Ethereal) Pegasus is being developed to power the upper stage of the company’s Razor Crest Mk 1 (RCM1), a medium-lift launch vehicle designed to recover and reuse both its booster and upper stage.BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR REUSABLE ROCKETSRCM1, which is the company's medium-lift launch vehicle, has a propulsion architecture that comprises two semi-cryogenic engines: Pegasus, intended for the reusable upper stage, and Stallion, a 1.2-meganewton gas-generator engine designed to power the booster during lift-off and atmospheric ascent. The Guild describes Stallion as the world’s most powerful reusable semi-cryogenic rocket engine. However, its development and qualification remain ongoing.The company is also developing a vertical test facility for Stallion at The Anchorage.The infrastructure is intended to support individual engine firings and clustered-engine tests, allowing the company to assess how multiple engines operate together.Beyond propulsion testing, the facility is planned to accommodate integrated stage qualification, bringing together propellant tanks, feed systems, structures, avionics, controls and flight software. Manufacturing capabilities, including machining, welding, additive manufacturing and tank fabrication, are also planned.The company says the facility will eventually support refurbishment and requalification of flown rocket hardware, a critical requirement for repeated launches.“Full reusability is not achieved by vehicle design alone,” said Manu J. Nair, co-founder and CEO of The Guild, highlighting the need to integrate manufacturing, testing and refurbishment.The Anchorage’s infrastructure is being developed alongside the company’s engines and launch vehicle stages. Its planned capabilities will need to undergo testing and qualification before RCM1 can progress towards operational flights.- Ends