Latest news with #GalaxEye
Mint
13-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Why space defence is no longer a pie in the sky for Indian companies
New Delhi/Bengaluru: Anirudh Sharma, chief executive of space startup Digantara, is setting up a satellite manufacturing assembly line at his company's Bengaluru headquarters. It's a bit of a departure from Digantara's original premise of selling 'space situational awareness'—a map for satellites to navigate increasingly crowded orbits. So, why is a company looking to sell satellite data to clients setting up an assembly line? Sharma says the decision was driven by the increasing interest over approximately the past six months from governments around the world to source their own space defence and surveillance infrastructure. Once a practically non-existent sector, space-based defence services, led by the demand for surveillance in the sky, is having a big impact on India. The country's space companies—once heavily questioned about their commercial prospects—now stand on the precipice of bagging contracts from countries around the world. Aside from Digantara, Bengaluru-based startups GalaxEye, Bellatrix Aerospace and Pixxel, and Hyderabad-headquartered legacy company Ananth Technologies, are all benefiting from this shift. Looking to get in on the action, last December, industrial conglomerate JSW Group entered the field, partnering with $3.5-billion US aerospace and defence-Tech company, Shield AI. As a consequence, India is quietly seeing the genesis of a sector that could give the country immense geopolitical soft power—akin to what Russia and France had previously wielded, in the global space race. At the heart are commercial contracts for manufacturing satellites, and for offering surveillance-related space data services to governments around the world. In less than eight years, the industry is likely to contribute over $17 billion to India's economy. And by the end of this fiscal year, it is set to get space-based surveillance contracts of varying kinds worth nearly $3 billion, Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman of India's nodal space agency, Indian National Space Promotions and Authorization Centre (In-Space), had told Mint in May. At stake in all this is India's potential to take the challenge to the US and China—the de facto leaders in global space defence and surveillance technologies. Eye in the sky There is a rising demand for high-resolution imaging from satellites for earth observation and sovereign surveillance use cases. Over the past three quarters now, we are seeing an increasing interest from governments around the world to own their own space surveillance satellites," Digantara's Sharma told Mint. 'The contract sizes that we have been offered range from $1-15 million—varying by the number of satellites that a client is asking us for. The demand is certain, and is helping us generate a steady revenue stream this fiscal year." GalaxEye is a second entrant pivoting into this ecosystem. Last month, chief executive Suyash Singh announced the venture's entry into the high-resolution-imaging satellite market—with a view to tap the rising demand for surveillance data from around the world. On 2 July, fellow startup Bellatrix Aerospace followed suit, introducing what it said was an 'ultra-low-earth satellite delivering lower latency, sharper imagery and dramatically reduced mission costs" than established surveillance satellite projects. Each of them is vying for a market where Bengaluru-origin space startup Pixxel made an early entry, offering ultra-high-resolution surveillance satellites to nations in a 'data-as-a-service' format. The company has already established its presence in the US, winning contracts with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). There are veteran companies in this space, too. Ananth Technologies, run by Subba Rao Pavuluri—a former engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), today operates three satellite manufacturing lines in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. The company, established in 1992, has been a supplier to Isro for three decades, and has built surveillance satellites under the Earth Observation Satellite (Eos) series for New Delhi. Today, it is opening up its capacities to make satellites for global customers. To do that, Ananth Technologies is competing for global space defence infrastructure orders with Alpha Design Technologies, an aerospace and defence manufacturing company acquired in 2019 by Adani Group arm Adani Defence and Aerospace. Eying these opportunities, Big Tech is gradually making moves. In June 2023, Google became an early investor in Pixxel. On 8 July this year, Amazon Web Services announced a second edition of its Space Accelerator programme, with the goal of offering 40 startups with 'business resources, expertise and guidance". Two of Amazon's five key areas of focus in its space startups incubator campaign are satellite imagery and geospatial applications—key to the nascent space defence sector. Interestingly, while this year's edition of the Amazon accelerator will be available in four countries, the inaugural 2024 edition targeted India alone—reflecting the rising amount of interest in this industry. Each of these moves is boosting India as a key resource for geospatial defence infrastructure. Sarjan Shah, managing director–India at JSW Defence's US partner Shield AI, said that there is ample appetite for aerial defence infrastructure upgrades with private sector partnership in the country—a field that has received a 'considerable fillip since Operation Sindoor". 'There is a clear sentiment within the private industry as well as the government that India's defence forces are well-poised for infrastructure upgrades in aerial capacities," Shah added. The JSW-Shield AI partnership, valued at $90 million, will give the Indian company's defence and space subsidiary, JSW Defence, indigenous capability to manufacture unmanned surveillance and ballistic aircraft—crucial parts of modern-day warfare. The indigenization is currently underway, taking place through a transfer-of-technology agreement that the two entities have running. This will give JSW Defence access to Shield's proprietary unmanned aerial vehicle technologies—applicable in space warfare, defence and surveillance services. 'With technology partnership and transfer, India can also become a vital supplier of aerial defence infrastructure to trusted geographies—given the current balance of global geopolitics, which rules out multiple previously-established countries as viable partners for the world," said Shah. An opportune moment Why is there such a sudden flurry of activity in India to cash in on the space industry? The answers are not unidirectional, but all narrow down to one point: India is in the right place, at the right time. The embers began to glow in 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to sanctions being imposed against it by most European nations. This led to a dearth in space engineering and manufacturing supply—Russia was a major provider of satellite manufacturing, especially in defence and surveillance use cases. Over the past nine months, rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia, and the India-Pakistan skirmish in April, have led to more nations wanting their own, sovereign geopolitical solutions. These factors, coupled with the US not catering to every nation as a result of its stringent defence partnership policies, have put India in a strategically advantageous position as a satellite and space technology supplier to the world. For instance, over the past two years, India has replaced Russia as the primary defence and national security supplier to Armenia. Today, the nation's reliance on India includes using its space technologies ecosystem—giving the private entities mentioned above a steady, recurring market to cater to. 'A large part of why India's space sector is seeing such a defence-led boom is the fact that many of the older, existing supplier markets are today out of the question," said Vinit Khandare, director at policy consultancy and services organization Strategy Research and Growth Foundation. 'The US does not supply space-based surveillance infrastructure or data to every country, and partnerships with Russia are no longer sustainable since Russia itself is engaged in various geopolitical conflicts. France was a key partner, but with the manufacturing sector being too expensive in the European Union, it is no longer an entity either. Enter, India." Companies are already seeing a rising amount of commercial activity. 'We're certainly getting an increasing number of orders from nations across Asia and the global South—which are India's focus areas," said Ananth's Pavuluri. 'In anticipation of rising orders for sovereign surveillance satellites, we've ramped up capacity to currently operate larger satellite assembly facilities than some of the world's biggest players in this sector—such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin." But it's not just a game of manufacturing, say stakeholders. GalaxEye's Singh noted that the 'rising amount of interest in the sector is giving India plenty of opportunity to innovate." 'There is of course one side of the industry, where India can tap a rising demand for satellite manufacturing—to simply be a direct supplier for satellites as per global specifications," Singh said. 'But, we're using this time to innovate upon the kind of surveillance resolution that we can offer—and subsequently sell the data as per sovereign requirements. We can even scale up the number of satellites that we build, depending on demand." A shot at the big bucks Data sourced from five industry executives showed that on an average, the global price of satellite surveillance data ranges from $10-100 per square kilometre per week, from a single satellite. With Indian companies also looking at similar pricing for satellite data, the revenue to be generated from an EU member such as Hungary, or a non-EU country such as Norway, as part of a bundled offering of surveillance satellite imagery and data analytics, is upward of $50 million from a constellation of high-resolution satellites. This pricing is for a surveillance area that only involves a nation's borders—contract sizes in space surveillance today run into hundreds of millions as nations generate interest to source high-resolution satellite data for various use cases. These include forestry, weather prediction, urban planning, disaster management and more. Three industry executives told Mint that for a full nation's satellite data, a single contract can cross $1 billion for a full year—underlining the business opportunity and explaining why so many private space companies are entering this field. In fact, each of the executives cited above suggested that while New Delhi is eyeing $44 billion in annual revenue from India's overall space industry by 2033, succeeding in space surveillance services around the world can single-handedly account for half of this economy. For space companies, this is key. Digantara, for instance, expects to cross $30 million in annual revenue by the next fiscal year. Ananth, already at over $30 million in annual revenue as of FY24, expects an exponential fillip due to this demand. While GalaxEye did not offer a projection, Singh said that there is 'ample scope for an exponential uptick in revenue, once our satellite is built and placed in orbit". Sensing the opportunity, the private companies are all looking to ramp-up capital expenditure and investments. Digantara, which has raised $12 million from venture capital firm Peak XV and others, is in the market for a $50 million funding round. GalaxEye, which raised $10 million from deeptech fund Speciale Invest, tech giant Infosys, and others, will also pursue a new funding round to expand its surveillance satellite offerings to various nations, after it places its first high-resolution satellite in orbit by December. Even Ananth Technologies, which has a steady revenue stream, is not opposed to a future funding round. Pavuluri said the company will 'definitely require funding to expand capacity and ramp-up production as per global demand", but did not confirm if it will pursue a public listing, or by when the funding round may take place. Catering to the world Behind each of these ventures and the entire space industry today is the fact that between 2022 and now, private space startups did not immediately find domestic avenues to scale up revenue. Last year, this prompted former Isro chief S. Somanath to state that the government had not emerged as a key customer of space services the way the US did for its private space vendors, almost three decades ago. Over the past 12 months, though, the industry has shifted upward. 'Global demand is seeing countries from Europe, Africa and the Middle East all look at India as a reliable space technology and satellite supplier," said Chaitanya Giri, space fellow at global policy think-tank, Observer Research Foundation. 'With India's stable geopolitical outlook, a sizeable economy, and the reputation that Isro enjoys globally, the domestic space market is ripe to expand globally." The US, to be sure, mostly caters only to large-scale contracts—that, too, after signing bilateral defence treaties as part of efforts to secure access to its defence infrastructure and blueprints. China, which has always been a protectionist economy, only builds for itself. With this, India sees a clear path ahead in the growth of geospatial defence services. And it all begins with startups and conglomerate-backed entities pursuing that low-hanging fruit: surveillance satellites. 'In the long run, there is deep potential for more complex and intricate engineering in the aerospace defence sector for India. For Shield, for instance, India represents a multi-year partnership agreement with the JSW Group—one that gives our US entity strong footing in one of the world's most important space economies," Shield's Shah said. Digantara's Sharma concurs. 'There is a clear need within India and across the world to build space infrastructure that is innovative, offers mapping and surveillance, and does so at a considerably more scalable and cost-efficient structure than what the rest of the world has offered," he said. 'We're here to do it, and the runway ahead for this sector is big and bright."
Entrepreneur
25-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
The Capital Push Powering India's Defence-Tech Leap
India's defence-tech landscape is undergoing a revolution, driven by a mix of policy liberalisation, heightened geopolitical urgency, and an emerging breed of deeptech startups. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. India's defence-tech landscape is undergoing a revolution, driven by a mix of policy liberalisation, heightened geopolitical urgency, and an emerging breed of deeptech startups. Since 2020, the Indian government has actively encouraged domestic innovation in critical technologies through initiatives such as the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 and the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) framework. These are aimed at reducing India's reliance on imports, which still account for around 36 per cent of India's total defence procurement, according to SIPRI data as of 2023. Venture capital firms like Speciale Invest have seized the moment. "We saw a generational opportunity," says Vishesh Rajaram, pointing to a strategic shift where private capital is beginning to back first-principles engineering in a sector historically dominated by government labs and public sector undertakings. Startups such as GalaxEye Space. QNu Labs, Astrogate Labs, and Kawa Space are technologies that previously lacked domestic equivalents. Startups like these are not only aligning with India's Indigenisation List (MoD, 2023) but are also exploring dual-use commercial applications across telecommunications, logistics, and energy. "At Speciale Invest, we invested early on India's defence-tech sector because we saw a generational opportunity, one where innovation is not just encouraged, but imperative. The convergence of deeptech capabilities in AI, autonomy, space, and advanced manufacturing, combined with a supportive policy environment, convinced us that India was ready to build mission-critical technologies from first principles," said Rajaram. Navigating defence's characteristically long development and procurement cycles, which often stretch more than half a decade, remains a hurdle. Yet, according to the Ministry of Defence's iDEX progress report, over 150 contracts have been signed with startups since its inception, signalling an unprecedented openness to private-sector innovation. Rajaram said, "Navigating long sales cycles and regulatory complexity requires patience, strategic alignment with defence end-users, and partnering with founders who understand the unique duality of this sector, where innovation must meet both operational reliability and sovereign requirements." Looking ahead, India's ambitions are global. The Ministry of Defence has set a target to increase defence exports to INR 35,000 crore (~USD 4.2 billion) by 2025, up from INR 15,920 crore in 2023. As Rajaram observes, India is poised to become a net exporter of cutting-edge technologies, particularly in Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) systems, and drone warfare, areas that are increasingly vital in both conventional and hybrid conflict scenarios. "The current geopolitical climate has accelerated demand for indigenous solutions, and we believe Indian startups will not only serve the domestic market but also become key players in allied export corridors," noted Rajaram. The evolving geopolitical landscape, from border tensions with China to maritime rivalries in the Indo-Pacific, has only intensified the need for self-reliance and export-oriented innovation.
Time of India
24-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
World Economic Forum features 10 Indian startups as Tech Pioneers; spacetech wins big
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has featured 10 Indian startups among its 2025 cohort of 100 'Technology Pioneers,' recognising emerging companies building breakthrough solutions across sectors like space tech , electric mobility , robotics, and healthcare. This year's selection highlighted India's growing role in the global deep tech ecosystem, with space startups making up the largest segment of India's representation. Startups such as Agnikul Cosmos, Digantara, and GalaxEye were recognised for their contributions in space launches, space situational awareness, and earth observation technologies, respectively. These space tech startups are currently preparing for major missions in the coming year, and recognition from WEF is expected to draw greater global investor interest in India's growing space economy. The selected startups will now work closely with WEF's platforms to contribute to global discussions on technology, sustainability, and inclusive growth. Agnikul, GalaxEye, and The ePlane Company were incubated at IIT-Madras , which has built a robust deeptech ecosystem. The ePlane Company is developing electric flying taxis aimed at easing urban congestion. 'We find this acknowledgement to be a great motivator for us to accelerate our developments in space tech by building new innovations in earth observation,' Suyash Singh, founder of GalaxEye, told ET. Live Events He added that with the startup announcing its second satellite last week amid growing demand for geospatial data, the recognition reaffirms their belief in the global relevance of their work. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Other Indian companies recognised in the cohort include Exponent Energy, known for its rapid-charging battery systems for electric vehicles (EVs), CynLr for its work in robotics and machine vision, Freight Tiger for building a software-enabled freight network, SolarSquare for residential solar energy systems, Dezy for AI-driven dental diagnostics, and Equal for identity verification and consent-driven data sharing. Venture capital firm Speciale Invest, which backed four of the 10 Indian startups selected as Technology Pioneers - Agnikul, ePlane, CynLr, and GalaxEye, said the global recognition affirms not only their audacious vision across space launch, flying taxis, robotic vision, and multi-sensor satellite intelligence, but also marks a pivotal moment for India's rise as a deeptech leader. 'This milestone is a testament to their boldness, ingenuity, and the world-class innovation emerging from India,' said Vishesh Rajaram, managing partner at Speciale Invest. The Technology Pioneers community features 100 early-stage companies from 28 countries driving innovation across industries and borders. 'The geography of innovation is also evolving. While the United States remains the top contributor to the community, Europe's share has surged to 28% – up from 20% last year – reflecting the rise of strong tech ecosystems across the region. China and India are also emerging as major tech innovation hubs,' WEF said in a statement.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Agnikul, GalaxEye, ePlane Co among 10 Indian startups on WEF list
Ten Indian startups working on cutting-edge technologies— from artificial intelligence to space tech — have made it to the World Economic Forum's prestigious list of top 100 emerging companies for 2025. The annual list by WEF tech pioneers highlights the most promising global innovators shaping the future across sectors. The Indian startups featured in the list include Equal, GalaxEye, Agnikul, CynLr, Dezy, Digantara, Exponent Energy, Freight Tiger, SolarSquare, and The ePlane Co. 'At SolarSquare, our mission is to build India's most trusted residential solar brand. Our full-stack integrated approach is designed to make rooftop solar reliable and hassle-free,' Shreya Mishra, co-founder at SolarSquare, said. The company has already solarised almost 30,000 homes through their platform and by the end of 2025, it aims to double the count to nearly 60,000. Notably, four portfolio companies— Agnikul, ePlane, CynLr, and GalaxEye — of deep-tech investor Speciale Invest made it to the list. Vishesh Rajaram, the managing partner of the venture capital firm, said, 'This global recognition affirms not only their audacious visions across space launch, flying taxis, robotic vision, and multi-sensor satellite intelligence, but also marks a pivotal moment for India's rise as a deep tech leader.' Suyash Singh, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of space-tech startup GalaxEye said, 'To be named along with other deep-tech pioneers from India and around the world is a proud moment for us. This recognition is a validation of our global vision of enhancing earth observation capabilities and providing actionable geospatial data to critical sectors around the world.' At present, the company is using its Series A funding of $10 million for the launch of its first satellite 'Mission Drishti,' which it targets to launch by the end of this year. Equal Identity is a platform enabling secure, real-time, consent-based data sharing for over 80 million people across financial services, insurance, healthcare, employment, and housing. In March 2025 alone, the company processed more than 101 million transactions and is likely to cross one billion annual transaction run rate in FY26, up from just 75,000 paid transactions in FY24. 'The trajectory highlights both the institutional demand for verified data and the trust in our privacy-first approach. As we look ahead, we're focused on strengthening this infrastructure further with deeper integrations, AI-led verification, and governance models that ensure personal data can be used responsibly to unlock access and opportunity,' said Keshav Reddy, the company's founder, adding that Equal's selection as a tech pioneer is a reflection of its scale, depth, and urgency of the infrastructure. Interestingly, last year, the same number of startups were part of the list. These included companies such as Amperehour, Cropin, Entri, HealthPlix, International Battery Company, Niramai, NxtWave, Pixxel, Sarvam AI, and String Bio.
Hans India
20-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Spacetech startup GalaxEye announces plans to build second satellite with 0.5m resolution
Bengaluru, 20th June, 2025 — GalaxEye, a Bengaluru-based space-tech startup pioneering Syncfusion SAR-Optical imaging satellite technology, has announced the development of its second satellite amid growing global demand for sharper and faster geospatial insights. Engineered to deliver near 0.5 metre resolution, the satellite will ensure elevation in detail and quality of insights for the defence use cases among other critical sectors. The announcement follows closely on the heels of GalaxEye's upcoming first satellite, Mission Drishti, which is scheduled for launch later this year. Drishti offers a resolution of 1.25 metres and serves as a key milestone in demonstrating the company's proprietary technology stack, including a proven sensor system and Data Processing pipeline tested over 500 drone flights and spaceflight missions such as the POEM payload. GalaxEye's second satellite will not only deliver improved spatial resolution but also reduce revisit time to under three days, significantly enhancing the responsiveness and utility of its constellation. Notably, the world's first SyncFusion SAR-Optical satellite, originally designed in India, will now also be fully built in-house—highlighting GalaxEye's growing manufacturing and systems integration capabilities. To support this expansion, the company also plans to scale its facilities in the near future. 'Building on the experience from our first satellite—set to launch later this year—and the evolving needs of our defence customers, we're thrilled to take the next big step in scaling our constellation and deepening our mission impact,' said Suyash Singh, Founder & CEO of GalaxEye. 'What excites us most is that this second satellite will be entirely built in-house. Our sensor stack has already been tested on over 500 aerial test flights, backed by a proprietary signal processing toolchain, the success of the POEM payload, the Drishti (1.25m) launch, and purpose-built software to extract actionable insights. As we move forward, we're committed to greater vertical integration—working closely with resilient partners across the satellite supply chain. The world today demands faster, sharper, and more persistent eyes in the sky. With enhanced resolution and performance, our second satellite marks a significant leap in unlocking richer, more detailed analytical intelligence.' GalaxEye extends its gratitude towards ISRO, IN-SPACe and NAL for their guidance and support. Their commitment to nurturing India's space-tech ecosystem has been vital in our journey to push boundaries in Earth observation innovation. At a time when geopolitical conflicts and cross-border threats are escalating, nations are actively seeking sharper, more reliable satellite data to safeguard national interests. The second satellite, designed with mission-critical applications in mind, offers real-time, all-weather capabilities and will also serve adjacent sectors like disaster response, urban security, maritime awareness and risk intelligence. 'As early backers of GalaxEye, it's incredibly rewarding to see them announce their second satellite. The dual-use potential of their technology — spanning defence, national security, and commercial sectors — is truly exciting. GalaxEye's bold vision to bring reliability and Service Level Agreements to satellite imagery – all time all weather imagery – is a game-changer. We've believed in their mission from the start, and with the technology now de-risked, it's time to scale.' said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner at Speciale Invest. With the launch targeted for late 2026 or early 2027, the company is currently undergoing mission concept and preliminary design reviews, and is strategically positioning to expand into high-priority international defence markets including the United States, West Asia and Europe.
