It was time for India to move from being a service provider to becoming a creator of high-value products such as aircraft, electric aircraft and rockets, said Satya Chakravarthy, Professor of IIT Madras and founder and technical lead of The ePlane Company.
Addressing students at the SummitX Masterclass organised by PaveMyPath in association with Mahatma Global Gateway School, he advised them to build the products within India rather than only design for others.
He said in the aerospace industry, the real focus is not on one perfect launch but on the fiftieth or the hundredth. The core of the business is reliability, documentation and discipline. Success comes from repeating the same operation with precision again and again.
“The doing again and again part may seem boring. But that is where the real value is,” he said.
He told the students that he does not believe in exit plans. Entrepreneurship accepts only one plan which is the mission itself. He described the journey as one that requires relentless optimism and courage.
“If you have an exit plan, you will end up exiting. The mission must be the only plan,” he said.
He advised the students to give maximum focus to the fundamentals they learn from class nine to class twelve. These years build the foundation for problem-solving in every field, he said. He encouraged the students to follow their passion and reminded them that careers in space are open to everyone. He told them they can be a space lawyer, a space policy expert, a space entrepreneur or a space researcher.
Persistence and belief helped his team move forward even when policies were not fully defined, he said. He shared how his team is advancing large-scale three dimensional printed rocket components.
Published – November 29, 2025 10:11 pm IST
