‘Space tech is an international game’

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Editor's note: It’s late one April evening in Bengaluru. In a small room that serves as the office of space technology startup Pixxel, a few employees, their friends and families, some engineers, investors and scientists have gathered, their eyes glued to a big screen that shows live footage from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A rocket is going to launch any moment now.  For everyone involved, it’s been a stressful day. Until an hour ago, they weren’t sure if the rocket would launch at all—given the thunderstorms, there was only a 25% chance, according to the US government. Soon, the weather cleared up, and then came the confirmation: “It’s a go.”  T minus 10 seconds.  The room is adorned with black and gold balloons, a confetti cannon is ready to be popped. The occasional party horn can already be heard.  The timer ticks down and finally, Shakuntala, the first-ever satellite built by the Bengaluru-based company, is on its way to space, loaded on the Falcon 9 rocket built by billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.  “Go Shakuntala, go Falcon 9!” the group cheers. …