A consortium led by PixxelSpace India has won a contract from Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to design, build, launch, and operate the country’s first wholly indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation, according to a press release from the space-tech startup.
PixxelSpace’s partners include Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space.
IN-SPACe Chairman Dr. Pawan Goenka called it a “coming of age” moment for India’s private space sector.
Chosen after a multi-stage evaluation from an initial pool of 20 companies, the consortium will invest more than Rs. 1,200 crore in the project under a Public-Private Partnership (EO-PPP) model, over the next five years. The 12-satellite Low Earth Orbit network will feature panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors.
The network will deliver high-resolution, Analysis Ready Data (ARD) and value-added services for climate monitoring, disaster management, agriculture, maritime surveillance, urban planning, and national security. The constellation will be rolled out in phases over four years, contributing to India’s space economy that’s projected to grow to $44 billion by 2033 from $8.4 billion in 2022.
Rajeev Jyoti, Director, Technical Directorate, IN-SPACe, said: “All three shortlisted bidders submitted excellent technical and business plans, underscoring the growing maturity of India’s private space capabilities. This project is about building India’s own independent and future-ready geospatial infrastructure.”
The government will provide strategic and technical support, while the consortium will manage ownership, operations, and commercialisation. Jyoti also expects this project to catalyse innovation, and create thousands of high-skill jobs.
Two other consortia that were in the running for this contract are Astra Microwave Products Limited, Hyderabad (with Bharat Electronics Ltd., Sisir Radar & Spectragaze Systems), and GalaxEye Space, in Bengaluru (with CoreEL).
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