Ethereal Exploration Guild has commissioned a 150-acre rocket development and engine-testing complex near Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, creating a new private-sector facility for developing, qualifying and eventually refurbishing reusable launch-vehicle hardware.
Called The Anchorage, the complex is located in Space City, around 40 km from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The Bengaluru-based startup said the facility will support Razor Crest Mk 1, its fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, including recovery and reuse of both the booster and upper stage.
The vehicle is being designed around two semi-cryogenic engines: Pegasus, an 80-kilonewton upper-stage engine, and Stallion, a 1.2-meganewton gas-generator booster engine. The company said the commissioned Pegasus horizontal static test facility is the operational centrepiece of the complex.
According to The Guild, the facility has a pressure rating of 210 bar, which it described as the highest-pressure-rated pressure-fed rocket engine test capability in India. It can support component testing, ignition tests, thrust-chamber testing, turbomachinery tests and integrated engine firings.
The first hot-fire test of the Pegasus engine is planned for November 2026. The test will be a key operational milestone for the facility and for the company’s propulsion-development programme, although the supplied report does not provide a projected launch date for Razor Crest Mk 1.
The Guild said it has already invested $3 million, or approximately ₹29 crore, in The Anchorage. A further $4 million to $5 million, equivalent to about ₹38 crore to ₹48 crore, is being deployed for Phase 1. This phase includes the Pegasus static test facility and a vertical test facility.
The company is also developing the Stallion Vertical Test Facility for meganewton-class engine firings and clustered-engine testing. The planned infrastructure is intended to take the programme beyond single-engine qualification and allow the company to assess multiple engines operating together within the launch vehicle’s booster architecture.
The complex is being designed as more than a propulsion test site. Future stage-test infrastructure is planned for propellant tanks, feed systems, structures, avionics, controls and flight software, with propulsion systems tested alongside other launch-vehicle components.
Manu J Nair, The Guild’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said The Anchorage was a long-term investment in testing, manufacturing and the repeated operation of Razor Crest Mk 1. He said full reusability required an integrated industrial base connecting qualification, refurbishment and production.
Prashanth Sharma, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said test data from the site would feed directly into design and hardware qualification. Planned manufacturing and refurbishment facilities are expected to support tank fabrication, machining, welding, additive manufacturing, inspection, repairs and requalification of flown hardware before subsequent reflight campaigns.
The facility adds to the industrial infrastructure developing around Sriharikota, India’s established launch site. Its planned combination of engine testing, stage qualification, manufacturing and refurbishment reflects the technical requirements of reusable launch systems, which must be designed not only to fly but also to undergo inspection, repair and repeated operation. The next stated milestone is the Pegasus hot-fire test planned for November 2026.
