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In a first for India’s space ecosystem, Bengaluru-based space startup Pixxel and its partners Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics, and Dhruva Space have won the bid to design, build, and operate the country’s first fully indigenous commercial earth observation (EO) satellite constellation under the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’s (IN-SPACe) public-private partnership (EO-PPP) model.
The programme will help reduce India’s reliance on foreign sources and ensure data sovereignty.
The space promoter-cum-regulator on Tuesday said three consortia were shortlisted after rigorous technical evaluation: Astra Microwave Products with Bharat Electronics, Sisir Radar and Spectragaze Systems, and GalaxEye Space with CoreEL and PixxelSpace, along with its other three partners.
The Pixxel consortium emerged as the lowest bidder (L1), surpassing the other two by a wide margin. PierSight’s cofounder Vinit Bansal confirmed the same without revealing the exact amount of the bid. Pixxel’s founder Awais Ahmed declined to disclose the consortium’s exact bid value.
In a response to an ET query, GalaxEye founder Suyash Singh, part of the selected consortium, confirmed that their bid value was Rs 97 crore. Singh said GalaxEye, which is gearing up for the maiden launch of its EO Drishit satellite, was proud to be the youngest company to lead a consortium and qualify technically.
Over the next four years, the winning team will invest more than Rs 1,200 crore to deploy 12 satellites carrying optical, hyperspectral, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors. These will provide high-resolution data for agriculture, urban planning, disaster management, climate monitoring, and national security.
“Once operational, it will be among the most advanced EO systems in the world, designed, built, and operated entirely in India by Indian talent,” IN-SPACe said in a statement. The EO constellation will be deployed in a phased manner to ensure continuous service upgrades and expanded coverage.
The winning Pixxel-led consortium brings together complementary strengths. “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,” Ahmedabad-based PierSight’s Bansal said.
Pixxel, known for its hyperspectral imaging expertise, will spearhead satellite design and integration. SatSure will contribute with its knowledge in geospatial analytics and value-added services for sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure, while Dhruva Space will provide its expertise in satellite platform and ground segment solutions.
“Operated on a satellite-as-a-service model, the programme will provide guaranteed national access to advanced EO data while leveraging private-sector agility to deliver it at scale,” the winning consortium said in a statement.
Pawan Goenka, chairman, IN-SPACe, said the initiative signals the coming of age of India’s private space industry in the space sector. “It demonstrates the capability and confidence of Indian companies to lead large-scale, technologically advanced, and commercially viable space missions that serve both national and global markets.”
As per a report by market research consulting firm Modor Intelligence, the global EO market is projected to grow from $4.3 billion in 2025 to $5.9 billion by 2030. India’s push for EO capability through the EO-PPP aligns with its broader ambitions to scale its space economy from $8.4 billion to $44 billion by 2033.
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