In the hustle and bustle of India’s IT hub Gurgaon's fast-paced life, dreams often get buried, but Shreyans Jain, a student at The Shriram School Aravali, is doing something extraordinary. This young innovator has come up with a novel approach of launching rockets using balloons, an idea that sounds straight out of science fiction!

How Does the Balloon-Launched Rocket Idea Work ?

Shreyans Jain's company, Celestial Aerospace, has developed a unique system. A large balloon carries the rocket up to the upper atmosphere, where the air is much thinner. From there, the rocket ignites its engine and continues its journey.

What are the Benefits?

Launching from the ground requires the rocket to fight through dense air and strong gravity, wasting a massive amount of fuel.
With this new method, fuel is saved significantly, allowing the rocket to carry 2-3 times more payload into space.
For larger missions, they are developing high-pressure inflatable structures powered by hot gases, with which if advanced systems like nuclear propulsion are integrated, interplanetary travel could become much faster!.
Shreyans says, "At higher altitudes, there is less air resistance, so the rocket operates much more efficiently."

A Childhood Passion Turns into a Grand Dream

Shreyans has been passionate about space and rockets since a young age. He has been building and launching model rockets for years. The idea struck him while pondering why rockets waste so much fuel during liftoff, why not change the outdated launch method? Today, when companies like SpaceX are having to refuel in orbit, Celestial Aerospace is developing their technology to avoid that while carrying the same weight.
He says, "The basic launch method has remained the same for decades. We want to make it easier and cheaper."

Challenges and the Road Ahead

In the beginning, Shreyans conducted research alone for months. Then he built a team, including IIT graduates. Now, they are working towards performing wind tunnel tests and small-scale experiments. The plan is to launch a prototype by the end of 2026!
The prototype launch refers to publicly releasing or introducing an initial version (prototype) of a product, app, software, or device to the market.
The uniqueness of this invention lies in bypassing the thick lower layers of the atmosphere using high-altitude balloons. Shreyans explains, "At altitude, propulsion starts with their self developed hydrolox engines, which performs best in low-pressure environments." Propulsion is a term from physics and engineering, referring to the process or system that generates thrust to move an object (such as a vehicle, rocket, ship, or aircraft) forward.

The Biggest Challenge ?

As a student, finding investors hasn’t been easy. The son of a chartered accountant couple, Shreyans says he received immense support and encouragement from his parents, family and friends! This helped him come till here in realizing his dream. He is currently working towards raising money to further Celestial Aerospace’s development and growth.

They have also filed patents — both in India and internationally. The dream ahead is an orbital launch.

Inspiration for the Youth

Shreyans says, "Understand systems deeply, think outside the box. Lack of age or resources cannot stop you. Great achievements come from consistent hard work and confidence."
Space innovation in India is growing rapidly. Young individuals like Shreyans Jain are showing us that the journey from Gurgaon's classrooms to the stars is possible. His balloon-assisted vision could take India's space ambitions to new heights!
In what ways is this product rare or unique compared to existing solutions on the market? According to Shreyans, our product is unique because it focuses on simplifying the launch problem at the system level rather than adding complexity through larger engines, more stages or heavier infrastructure. We’ve designed the architecture to allows us to extract significantly more efficiency from existing propulsion technologies without relying on brute force or over engineering. This simplification applies not only to the rocket itself, but also to the supporting lift system, where we’ve reduced operational and structural complexity to make the overall launch process more practical and scalable.
Compared to existing solutions in the market, most launch providers concentrate on incremental improvements like higher thrust engines, advanced materials or increased manufacturing scale, while keeping the fundamental launch sequence unchanged. Our approach shifts the focus to removing inefficiencies early in ascent, essentially functioning as a more efficient version of the conventional launch architecture.
How do you envision this product impacting society, the environment or a specific industry?
He says that this product can significantly impact the space industry by making access to orbit more efficient and less resource-intensive. By using a balloon-assisted lift to reduce fuel burn and emissions during the most inefficient phase of launch, the system lowers environmental impact while enabling more frequent and affordable launches for satellites and space infrastructure in the long run. Over time, the same principles extend to our interplanetary system, helping us make deep-space transport more sustainable and scalable.

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