HomeTechnologyMade-in-India in Orbit: OptoSAR satellite begins a new era for the private space sector

Made-in-India in Orbit: OptoSAR satellite begins a new era for the private space sector

Madhavankutty Pillai
Last Updated:
GalaxEye was started by IIT Madras graduates who used the Indian Space Research Organisation’s testing facilities and mentoring, signalling how India’s private space sector is coming into its own with active assistance from the government
Made-in-India in Orbit: OptoSAR satellite begins a new era for the private space sector
(Illustration: Saurabh Singh) 

The space ambitions of the Indian private sector hit a milestone with the launch of a satellite designed and built in the country by a private company. GalaxEye Space, a Bengaluru-based startup, put a satellite into orbit using a Falcon 9 rocket of US space company SpaceX. Termed Mission Drishti, the project, which combines new technologies like Synthetic Aperture Radar and Electro- Optical imaging, gives accurate 24-hour observations of the Earth even through atmospheric interferences like clouds. Weighing 190kgs, the company terms it the world’s first OptoSAR satellite and its use cases span “defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.” The satellite will reduce India’s dependency on foreign satellites. An AI platform of Nvidia is used to crunch the data in space itself and share it with users on Earth.

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GalaxEye was started by IIT Madras graduates who used the Indian Space Research Organisation’s testing facilities and mentoring, signalling how India’s private space sec­tor is coming into its own with active assistance from the government. After the successful launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the moment a major achievement in India’s space journey and added in a post on X: “The suc­cessful launch of the world’s first OptoSAR satellite and the largest privately-built satellite in India is a testament to our youth’s passion for innovation and nation-building.”