Sireesh Pallikonda, co-founder and COO, and CVS Kiran, co-founder and CEO, Red Balloon Aerospace

In the earth’s atmosphere exists a cheeky middle layer — one that is too far for drones and aircraft but too close for satellite function. This ‘near-space’ layer has uses for sectors like telecommunication, agriculture and defence, among others, but remains largely unused by Indian entities.

Vijayawada-based space-tech entrepreneurs CVS Kiran and Sireesh Pallikonda believe that the answer to deploying payloads at this 20-40 km altitude floats on a balloon.

The duo, who were earlier part of the leadership team at Hyderabad-based space launch company Skyroot Aerospace, founded Red Balloon Aerospace in 2025, offering near-space launch services using specialised super-pressure air balloons.

“At Skyroot, we used to interact with a lot of customers who wanted to achieve near-space qualification before sending payloads to space. We saw that the demand for such services was huge but there were very few private companies operating in this area. We realised there is a huge economic potential for this layer and started Red Balloon Aerospace,” Pallikonda says.

Business model

The firm offers a ride-share model, where multiple customer payloads are launched as part of a single mission, as well as dedicated launches for a single customer.

It handles the launch end-to-end, including the ground infrastructure, power, communications and regulatory compliance, leaving the customer to focus only on their core objective.

Kiran explains how near-space deployments can have significant advantages in sectors like telecom. “In areas with sparse populations or difficult terrain it does not make economic sense to set up cell towers. But near-space platforms can cover hundreds of kilometres from a single vantage point. That changes the math entirely. You can serve a very large area with very little investment.”

He says near-space deployments can effectively replace close to 400 cell towers. Pallikonda adds that such platforms can rapidly restore communications after natural disasters. In areas like agriculture, urban planning and government mapping, the proximity of near-earth deployments enable data capture with much higher resolution, compared with satellites.

Red Balloon launched its first super-pressure balloon last month, carrying commercial payloads from seven national and international customers. Pallikonda says the company targets 12 launches this year, which includes both ride-share and dedicated launches.

Revenue

On financials, he says the pricing of the balloon launches is dynamic, based on the payload and altitude, so it is difficult to set clear revenue targets. The firm hopes to close FY26 with a topline of $5-10 million.

Beyond super-pressure balloons, Red Balloon is also focusing on added product lines such as tethered aerostats, and airships for defence and logistics applications.

Published on June 22, 2026