In a first for India’s fledgling spacetech sector, a private consortium will invest over ₹12 billion over five years to deploy a constellation of 12 cutting-edge Earth observation satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and microwave SAR sensors.
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has selected a PixxelSpace India-led consortium—comprising Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space—to design, build, and operate India’s first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation under a pioneering public-private partnership (EO-PPP) model.
Three consortia were shortlisted following rigorous technical evaluation: Hyderabad-based Astra Microwave Products (with Bharat Electronics Ltd., Sisir Radar and Spectragaze Systems); Bengaluru-based GalaxEye Space (with CoreEL); and PixxelSpace India (with Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India and Dhruva Space). After financial bid assessment, the Pixxel-led consortium emerged as the successful bidder.
In a first for India’s fledgling spacetech sector, the private consortium will invest over ₹12 billion ($1.45 billion) across five years to deploy a constellation of 12 state-of-the-art EO satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors.
“This initiative signals the coming of age of India’s private space industry,” said Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe. “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. The EO-PPP model fosters an ecosystem where public and private capabilities reinforce each other to drive growth, innovation, and self-reliance.”
Under the PPP framework, the central government will provide strategic, technical, and policy support, while the PixxelSpace-led consortium will own and operate the EO system, including satellite manufacturing, launches from Indian soil, ground infrastructure, and commercialisation of data services.
IN-SPACe is a single-window, independent nodal agency within the Department of Space, responsible for promoting, enabling, authorising, and supervising non-governmental entities (NGEs) in the space sector.
Building India’s Geospatial Infrastructure
The consortium’s EO constellation will deliver analysis-ready data (ARD) and value-added services (VAS) for applications in climate change monitoring, disaster management, agriculture, infrastructure, marine surveillance, national security, and urban planning, while also catering to global demand for high-quality geospatial intelligence.
By generating high-resolution, indigenous satellite data, the initiative will reduce India’s reliance on foreign sources, ensure data sovereignty, and position the country among global leaders in space-based data solutions.
“This project is about building India’s own independent and future-ready geospatial infrastructure,” said Rajeev Jyoti, Director, Technical Directorate, IN-SPACe. “It will lead to atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in high-resolution optical and radar data, catalyse innovation, create thousands of high-skill jobs, and contribute directly to our goal of growing India’s space economy from $8.4 billion in 2022 to $44 billion by 2033.”
Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel, added, “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. This is India’s moment to lead the world in space-powered solutions.”
The EO constellation will be deployed in a phased manner over the next four years, ensuring continuous service upgrades and expanded coverage. Once operational, it will be among the most advanced EO systems globally, which is designed, built, and operated entirely in India by Indian talent.