The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has selected a consortium led by Pixxel Space India, along with PierSight, SatSure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space, to design, build, and operate a fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The project involves an investment of over INR 12 billion over five years and will see the launch of 12 EO satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors. The constellation will provide data for applications including precision agriculture, water quality monitoring, land-use mapping, disaster assessment, and infrastructure development.
The consortium was selected after a competitive process involving two other bids, one led by Astra Microwave Products Limited with Bharat Electronics, Sisir Radar, and SpectraGaze Systems, and another led by GalaxEye Space with CoreEL Technologies.
According to the consortium, the satellite network will combine sub-metre very high-resolution, wide-swath multispectral, SAR, and hyperspectral satellites. “SAR makes the constellation operational 24/7 in all weather conditions. Our role is to deliver radar-first, analysis-ready products with low latency, so agencies and enterprises get alerts and evidence, not just raw data,” said Gaurav Seth, Co-founder and CEO of PierSight.
Dhruva Space CEO Sanjay Nekkanti said the partnership leverages the capabilities of each member. “With Dhruva’s expertise in the full-stack across the Space, Launch and Ground segments, we are able to deliver complete, sovereign solutions. With one of India’s largest upcoming spacecraft manufacturing facilities, the timing is right to leverage this infrastructure to scale for national and global markets,” he said.
SatSure CEO Prateep Basu noted that the company, through its subsidiary KaleidEO, will contribute by commercialising its optical and multispectral payload capable of high coverage at sub-metre spatial resolution.
The consortium will manage the entire value chain, including satellite manufacturing, ground station operations, value-added services, and analytics. The system will operate on a satellite-as-a-service model to provide national access to EO data while offering services to global markets.
PierSight will serve as the SAR specialist, supporting disaster response, maritime monitoring, oil-slick detection, urban planning, and agriculture. “In the Indian context, Kharif is a major crop season during which there’s upwards of 90 percent cloud cover. During this time, SAR offers precision agriculture, and can monitor crop health and yield estimation,” said Seth.
Pixxel CEO Awais Ahmed said the collaboration combines expertise in hyperspectral imaging, SAR, geospatial analytics, and satellite platforms to build an indigenous EO system for both domestic and international applications.
Pixxel Space India is a space technology company developing advanced EO satellite systems and hyperspectral imaging solutions. The company works with partners across the satellite manufacturing, analytics, and data services sectors to provide space-based intelligence for various industries.
PierSight is a space technology company specialising in Synthetic Aperture Radar systems and analysis-ready geospatial data products. Its offerings focus on maritime surveillance, disaster monitoring, and infrastructure assessment.
SatSure Analytics India is a geospatial intelligence company integrating satellite imagery with data analytics to support sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring.
Dhruva Space is a satellite technology firm providing solutions across the design, manufacturing, launch, and operations of spacecraft. The company serves commercial, civil, and defence space missions.