Manu is a mechanical engineer whose early exposure to the Vedas sparked a lifelong interest in space exploration. He’s the Co-Founder and CEO of Ethereal Exploration Guild, building the world’s first fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. Over just the past 3 years, the company has raised over $25 Million, signed over $130 Million in launch agreements, built India’s first reusable rocket engine, and remains the only company to have built 2 high thrust class engines in just under 3.5 years. Before founding Ethereal Exploration Guild in 2022, he worked on propulsion systems for satellites and launch vehicles and contributed to a project at ISRO’s Human Spaceflight Centre. He graduated as a Scientist-Astronaut Candidate through a formerly NASA Space Flight Opportunities-supported research initiative, Project PoSSUM, in 2022. Manu has also contributed pro bono to planning private commercial spaceflight missions that have since been successfully executed.