Single-use rockets are expensive by design. You build the vehicle, burn it once, it falls into the ocean. Every launch, you pay for the whole thing again.
Reusability breaks that loop.
Recover the first stage, refurbish it, fly it again. The hardware cost gets amortized across 10, 20, 50 flights. Your per-launch cost drops dramatically — not incrementally.
For large rockets this matters. For small-lift it's existential.
Small satellites are proliferating fast. University teams, defence startups, Earth observation companies — all need dedicated rideshare at prices that don't eat their entire budget. The current market charges ₹80–120Cr for a dedicated small-lift slot. Most of these customers can't afford that.
Sub-₹40Cr changes who can access orbit. It's not just cheaper — it opens the market to customers who don't exist yet because the price point never made sense.
That's the gap we're building into at SKYLX Aerospace. Reusable. Vertically integrated. Designed from first principles for the Indian small sat market.
We're early. We build in public. Follow along.