TeamIndus and Rahul Narayan’s Lunar Dreams – by Disha Suryawanshi, Space News Contributor – India, Interplanetary.tv
Photo credit: TeamIndus Archives – Video credit: TeamIndus Media Unit – In the early 2010s, when India’s space exploration narrative was dominated by ISRO, a small Bengaluru-based startup dared to dream beyond Earth’s orbit. TeamIndus, founded by Rahul Narayan and a team of technologists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, emerged as one of India’s earliest private aerospace ventures — with its sights set firmly on the Moon.

Rahul Narayan, a former software engineer with no formal aerospace background, found himself drawn into the global Google Lunar XPRIZE challenge. The competition, launched in 2007, offered $20 million to the first privately funded team that could land a spacecraft on the Moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit high-definition images back to Earth.

For most, the Moon was an unattainable dream. For Rahul and his team, it was a deadline.

What started as an idea scribbled on a napkin became a full-fledged mission design. In 2010, TeamIndus was formally registered. Unlike many other competitors, they quickly attracted attention within India and abroad — not only for their bold ambition, but for the way they were going about it: building a lunar lander from scratch in a country with no private spaceflight ecosystem.

Their vehicle, later dubbed HHK1 (Hum Honge Kamyaab One), was designed to ride aboard ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This collaboration between India’s national space agency and a private startup was unprecedented and marked a major milestone in the opening up of India’s space sector.

TeamIndus wasn’t just building a spacecraft — they were building belief.  

Key Milestones:
2010 – TeamIndus formally founded by Rahul Narayan and team.
2011–2014 – Early mission designs developed with a growing team of engineers.
2015 – ISRO agrees to provide launch support via PSLV.
2017 – Selected as one of five finalists in the Google Lunar XPRIZE.
2018 – XPRIZE ends with no winner; TeamIndus continues lunar ambitions post-contest.

Company History:
TeamIndus began as India’s only entry into the Google Lunar XPRIZE and became the first private aerospace startup to gain credible recognition. Despite the prize’s cancellation, the company pivoted into building lunar technology with long-term plans for lander development, payload integration services, and government collaborations.

Backed by over $35 million in funding from Indian and international investors, including notable names like Nandan Nilekani, Ratan Tata, and Sachin Bansal, TeamIndus built not just a mission profile but also a new industry in India. The team brought in ex-ISRO scientists and young engineers from IITs to blend experience with fresh thinking.
However, the mission wasn’t without turbulence.

Despite strong technical progress, financial and regulatory complexities slowed things down. The launch date kept shifting, and eventually, the Google Lunar XPRIZE ended in 2018 without a winner. TeamIndus had been a finalist, one of the five teams closest to pulling it off.

But the story didn’t end there. While the prize was gone, the purpose remained.
Post-2018, TeamIndus repositioned itself as a commercial lunar services company. With an eye on the growing global demand for lunar payload delivery — from space agencies to academic institutions and startups — the company began working on modular lander platforms and partnerships for future missions.

Their mission profile, once focused on a 500-meter lunar drive, now evolved into broader services: delivering scientific instruments, hosting commercial payloads, and supporting lunar exploration infrastructure.

Rahul Narayan, in interviews over the years, often reiterated that TeamIndus was “never just about winning a prize — it was about proving that India could lead in private space technology.”

Today, TeamIndus stands as a foundational player in India’s slowly liberalizing private spaceflight ecosystem. Along with newer entrants like Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace, TeamIndus helped create a precedent — proving that Indian startups could build space-grade hardware, navigate policy hurdles, and dream at planetary scales.

Their journey, filled with detours, delays, and disruptions, remains one of India’s most compelling narratives in private space innovation.

In chasing the Moon, they helped shape a new future — not just for themselves, but for a generation of Indian space entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

— Disha Suryawanshi 

About the Author.

Disha Suryawanshi is a passionate computer science BTech graduate specializing in AI & ML, with hands-on experience in cutting-edge frontend and mobile app development. Adept at creating dynamic, user-friendly interfaces using React.js and React Native, she’s driven projects that boosted user engagement by up to 40% and cut load times by 60%. Her knack for integrating data visualizations and scalable UI components showcases her technical finesse and design eye. A proven leader, Disha has successfully headed teams, led workshops, and enhanced collaboration in both academic and professional settings. She’s not just a coder but a creative problem solver with a love for music and video editing that sharpens her precision and organization skills. Always eager to innovate, Disha combines strong technical skills with a collaborative spirit to drive impactful digital solutions.