Pixxel-Led Consortium To Build India’s First Commercial Satellite Network

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has selected four homegrown spacetech startups to helm a project to design, build and operate India’s first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite system. 

The consortium, which will be led by hyperspectral imaging startup Pixxel, also comprises maritime surveillance platform PierSight Space, geospatial data analytics startup SatSure Analytics and space infrastructure venture Dhruva Space. 

Under the project, which will be undertaken on a public private partnership (PPP) model, the private consortium will invest more than INR 1,200 Cr over the next five years to launch a constellation of 12 state-of-the-art EO satellites. 

These satellites will be equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral and microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors. The constellation is expected to be deployed in a phased manner over the next four years.

“Being the winning proposal to build India’s national EO constellation is a major milestone for Pixxel and our consortium members in India’s space story… Together with our partners SatSure, Dhruva and PierSight, we look forward to building world-class space-tech capabilities that serve the whole planet from Indian soil,” said Pixxel cofounder and CEO Awais Ahmed.

The Centre will provide strategic, technical and policy support to the consortium which will own and operate the EO system, including satellite manufacturing, launches from Indian soil, ground infrastructure, and commercialisation of data services.

In a statement, IN-SPACe said that the project will “significantly” reduce India’s reliance on foreign companies, ensure data sovereignty, and position India as a “global leader” in space-based data solutions.

India’s Spacetech Ambitions Take Flight

This comes a year after IN-SPACe invited proposals from Indian startups and private enterprises to build and manage a space-based EO system. The selected consortium was judged based on multiple parameters, including funding, valuation, revenue and technical expertise. 

The nodal space body had also shortlisted the following consortia for selection:

• GalaxEye Space and CoreEL
• Astra, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Sisir Radar and Spectragaze Systems

The move to launch the EO satellite system is part of the Centre’s growing push for the spacetech sector, which has emerged as a major frontier for innovation globally. It will allow the selected startups to now pool their resources to further monetise their offerings and build quality spacetech solutions out of India. 

In her Budget 2025-26 speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced INR 1,000 Cr spacetech fund to bolster homegrown players in the sector. On the back of this, the sector is also witnessing growing participation from VC and PE funds. 

Earlier in the day, Mumbai-based spacetech startup Manastu Space Technologies bagged $3 Mn in an extended Series A round led by Capital-A. Last month, OmSpace Rocket raised $3 Mn in its pre-seed round. SatLeo Labs netted $3.3 Mn in April this year. 

At the heart of all this is the growing Indian spacetech landscape, which, as per Inc42, is projected to become a $77 Bn opportunity by 2030.