Pixxel-Led Consortium Selected to Develop India’s Earth Observation Constellation
Pixxel, along with partners Dhruva Space, PierSight and SatSure, has been awarded a proposal by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to design, build, own, and operate a national Earth observation constellation under a Public-Private Partnership framework. The consortium will invest more than INR 1,200 crores in developing a 12-satellite network over the next four to five years.
The constellation will include sub-metre very high-resolution, wide-swath multispectral, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and hyperspectral satellites. According to the consortium, the satellites are intended to support applications such as precision agriculture, water quality monitoring, land-use mapping, environmental compliance, disaster assessment, and infrastructure development.
“Being the winning proposal to build India’s national EO constellation is a major milestone for Pixxel and our consortium members. We’re grateful to IN-SPACe and the Government of India for trusting our consortium with this historic mission,” said Awais Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Pixxel.
“The EO-PPP presents a tremendous opportunity to serve both India’s and the world’s growing Geospatial Intelligence needs. Each partner in this consortium brings complementary strengths, and together we represent the power of four teams working to truly democratise access to Space-based data,” said Sanjay Nekkanti, Co-founder and CEO of Dhruva Space.
“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.
“This PPP is about outcomes and execution speed. Our modular, software-defined radar electronics and deployable-antenna heritage let us iterate quickly and align to IN-SPACe’s phased milestones,” said Vinit Bansal, Co-founder and CTO of PierSight.
Prateep Basu, Co-founder and CEO of SatSure, said, “Together, with Pixxel Space, PierSight, and Dhruva Space, we have ensured that not only do we provide the most comprehensive solution for India’s domestic EO needs, but also usher in a new era of private sector collaboration to achieve the monumental vision that IN-SPACe set for the growth of the Indian private space industry.”
The consortium will manage the entire system, including satellites, ground stations, value-added services, and analytics. The programme will operate on a satellite-as-a-service model, providing guaranteed national access to Earth observation data while being delivered through private-sector operations.
Pixxel is a Bengaluru-based space data company building a hyperspectral imaging constellation. Its three Firefly satellites, launched in 2025, capture data across more than 135 spectral bands at approximately 5-metre resolution for industries such as agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and environmental monitoring.
Dhruva Space, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Hyderabad, offers end-to-end satellite engineering solutions, including satellite platforms, launch deployers, and ground-station services.
SatSure, based in Bengaluru, provides decision-intelligence solutions by combining satellite remote sensing, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence for sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, financial services, and climate.
PierSight is an Indian space technology startup developing SAR and AIS satellite constellations for maritime monitoring, supporting applications such as illegal fishing detection, oil spill response, shipping operations, and ocean surveillance.