Sanghvi Aerospace Private Limited, an Ahmedabad-based company founded in 1992 and operational since 1993, is a unique and indispensable part of India’s space and defence industrial ecosystem. It has been a critical partner to ISRO, the Indian armed forces, and defense manufacturing organizations like HAL, BEL, and DRDO for over three decades.

The company specializes in manufacturing aerospace-grade electrical wires and cables that are used in satellites, launch vehicles, fighter aircraft, helicopters, and missiles. Its contribution is particularly remarkable because since 1996, every Indian satellite launched by ISRO—including Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan, INSAT, IRNSS, CARTOSAT, and ASTROSAT missions—has relied exclusively on Sanghvi Aerospace wires. Even advanced and heavy-lift rockets such as PSLV, GSLV, SSLV, and LVM3 are powered by electrical connectivity provided by Sanghvi’s ultra-specialized aerospace cables.

The reliability of Sanghvi Aerospace stems from both foresight and necessity. Anticipating sanctions after India’s nuclear tests in the mid-1990s, ISRO tapped the company before its formal establishment to undertake indigenous development of critical aerospace wiring, knowing that foreign sources might not be accessible in the future.

Accepting this daunting challenge, founder Ketanbhai Sanghvi and his team developed high-quality, spaceborne cables that met the stringent requirements of mission-critical systems. By 1993, ISRO had fully onboarded Sanghvi Aerospace as its cable supplier, and from then on, all Indian satellites exclusively incorporated their products.

What sets these wires apart is their ability to function in highly demanding conditions—extreme ranges of temperature, radiation exposure in space, and reliability over decades of operational lifespans without maintenance or replacement.

Aerospace-grade wiring is inherently different from general electrical wiring. Factors like weight, size, insulation, temperature resistance, and durability are pivotal. In advanced systems like satellites or missiles, lighter wiring translates into greater payload capacity, faster missile speeds, and more efficient spacecraft. Sanghvi Aerospace’s cables are designed to be ultralight while still enduring temperatures from -65°C to +200°C, and in special cases up to +260°C.

They are over-engineered for durability because once wires are embedded in space vehicles or deep inside missiles, no maintenance is possible. The materials used include silver or nickel-plated copper for heat endurance, as opposed to aluminium or bare copper used in regular domestic cables.

For insulation, aerospace cables rely on PTFE or polyimide—extremely thin yet capable of withstanding up to 8000 volts—unlike standard PVC insulation in domestic wiring. These advanced composites make the wires resistant to fire, smoke, moisture, chemical exposure, as well as high humidity environments crucial for naval missile applications.

In modern aerospace applications, different grades of wires are used depending on their placement. Fire-resistant wires are deployed near engines to survive thrust-induced extreme heat, while radiation-hardened and ultra-high vacuum-compatible cables are used in satellites and space modules.

Sanghvi’s products have proven their mettle not only in launch environments where extreme vibrations and sudden thermal variations occur, but also in long-duration missions where uninterrupted signal and power transmission are crucial.

In fact, the company’s winding wires—used in actuators, motors, and pumps for spacecraft, aircraft, and missiles—can operate continuously at up to 265°C for 20,000 hours and withstand bursts of 450°C, reinforcing their robustness for Indian space and defence platforms.

The development cycle for any new cable product is long and strenuous, taking two to three years to complete. The process demands extensive R&D, rigorous testing across conditions, documentation, and certifications. Since there is zero tolerance for failure in aerospace and defence programs, each wire must prove its durability under exhaustive trials before being approved for deployment.

Final validation is provided by SEMILAC (aerospace components certification authority in India), which ensures that the cables meet both international operator standards and original equipment specifications, whether for French-designed Mirage fighters, Russian-origin Sukhois and MiGs, or Indian platforms like Tejas and Dhruv helicopters.

Despite its critical role in national projects, Sanghvi Aerospace operates as a lean small and medium enterprise (MSME) with a compact, highly experienced team of about eight members, many of whom have been associated with the company for two to three decades.

This continuity has built unmatched domain expertise, enabling them to create and customize test methods, anticipate ISRO’s requirements, and deliver precise aerospace-grade solutions without rejections. Their plants are located at Sanand GIDC and Narol, with representation in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, and Trivandrum to interface with customers across the country’s space and defence hubs.

Beyond ISRO, Sanghvi Aerospace supplies wiring solutions to the Air Force, Navy, Army, and associated defence production units such as HAL and BEL. Their products are integral to fighter jets like TEJAS, MiG, Jaguar, and Sukhoi, as well as helicopters like Cheetah, Chetak, DHRUV, PRACHAND, and LUH; Dornier aircraft; and advanced missile programs.

Roughly half of the company’s business caters to satellites and launch vehicles, while the other half is dedicated to the fighter aircraft and defence aerospace segment. The company has expanded internationally as well, exporting aerospace-grade wires to Europe and Australia, primarily to meet demands in the aircraft sector, thereby earning global recognition for India’s specialized manufacturing quality.

While the company’s turnover today stands at around ₹50 crore, its wider impact is far greater. Its success story is intertwined with India’s self-reliant strides in defence and space engineering.

The “Make in India” initiative launched in 2014 has further boosted its opportunities, enabling companies like Sanghvi Aerospace to compete with global players by ensuring greater preference for domestically manufactured components in sensitive defence and aerospace contracts.

What once was a foreign-dependent niche is now strongly anchored in an indigenous ecosystem, shielding India from external supply chain vulnerabilities.

The recognition of Sanghvi Aerospace’s role came in symbolic as well as practical ways. Following the success of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, ISRO sent the company an official letter of appreciation, recognizing their contribution to one of India’s most celebrated space landmarks. Such acknowledgments consolidate their identity not just as a supplier, but as a partner in national achievement.

The consistency, precision, and reliability of this relatively small enterprise underline the importance of specialized MSMEs in nation-building. By producing world-class aerospace wiring solutions crucial for India’s satellites, rockets, and fighter aircraft, Sanghvi Aerospace has cemented its place as a silent but indispensable player in India’s journey from a developing nation once derided as “third-world” to a spearhead of global space capability.

Agencies