Dhruva Space and Sodern ArianeGroup Strengthen Indo-French Space Ties with HORUS Star Tracker In-Orbit Demonstration on LEAP-2 P-30 Mission

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Under Dhruva Space’s flagship Launching Expeditions for Aspiring Payloads (LEAP) initiative, designed to accelerate access to orbit for global customers, Sodern will deploy its next-generation HORUS star tracker on LEAP-2, Dhruva Space-hosted payload mission scheduled for launch in 2026.

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Paris, FRANCE (Thursday, 05 June 2025) Dhruva Space, a full-stack Space Engineering solutions provider in India, has announced a strategic partnership with France-based Sodern ArianeGroup, a global leader in optical and inertial instrumentation for Space and Defence sectors. Under Dhruva Space’s flagship Launching Expeditions for Aspiring Payloads (LEAP) initiative, designed to accelerate access to orbit for global customers, Sodern will deploy its next-generation HORUS star tracker on a Dhruva Space-hosted payload mission scheduled for launch in 2026.

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Mr. Fabien Robert, Vice President - Business Development & Sales, Sodern ArianeGroup (right) with Mr. Sanjay Nekkanti, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, Dhruva Space (left) at Sodern HQ in France

The HORUS payload will be integrated onto Dhruva Space’s indigenously-developed P-30 nanosatellite platform, featuring a modular bus architecture. The satellite structure and mission-critical subsystems, including avionics, power systems, and ADCS interfaces, were Space-qualified through the LEAP-TD mission aboard ISRO’s PSLV-C58 POEM-3 launch in 2024. Sodern’s HORUS payload features an advanced APS (Active Pixel Sensor) Space Detector tailored for telecom platforms, providing autonomous and high-precision attitude sensing capabilities. In parallel, Dhruva Space has selected Sodern’s radiation-hardened Auriga™ star tracker as its preferred attitude determination solution for a suite of upcoming satellite missions.

Mr Fabien Robert, Vice President - Business Development & Sales, Sodern ArianeGroup (right) with Mr. Abhay Egoor, Chief Technology Officer & Co-founder, Dhruva Space (left) in Paris, France

Vincent Dedieu, Chairman & CEO, Sodern ArianeGroup comments on the partnership, "We are delighted and honoured to be working with Dhruva. This contract signing fits perfectly within the strategic relationship between India and France and proves the importance of space collaboration between our countries. Dhruva Space was selected as the ideal partner to launch our high-end HORUS star tracker on its inaugural IOD smallsat mission, and we are eager to see HORUS in action. HORUS's high performance and autonomy offer exceptional robustness and make it particularly well-suited to telecommunications platforms.”
Mr. Dedieu continues, “We are also proud that our Auriga™ star tracker meets Dhruva Space’s expectations and has been selected for future Indian satellites and missions. The Auriga™ star tracker, with a legacy of 1,800 units in operation, is specifically designed to reduce costs while offering excellent technical performance and reliability. We would like to thank Dhruva Space sincerely for their confidence.”

Sanjay Nekkanti, CEO & Co-founder, Dhruva Space, adds, “The Indo-French partnership in Space has always been one of mutual respect, technical excellence, and long-term vision, and one I have been inspired by since before beginning my career in Space-Tech. Dhruva Space’s collaboration with Sodern represents yet another landmark chapter in this legacy. By combining Dhruva Space’s modular satellite architecture with Sodern’s flight-proven attitude determination systems, we’re enabling faster, more reliable mission deployment for customers and advancing in-orbit innovation at scale. Following ArianeGroup Executive President Mr Martin Sion’s inauguration of Dhruva Space’s Space-grade Solar Panel Fabrication Facility at our HQ in Hyderabad in October 2024, we are proud to deepen this relationship.”

Breaking down the tech

A star tracker is the spacecraft’s celestial compass. It's often the most accurate instrument for real-time attitude determination, often achieving arcsecond-level precision. By processing star field imagery, it autonomously identifies the Spacecraft’s orientation relative to inertial Space, which is critical for mission-critical maneuvers, payload pointing, and platform stabilisation.

Meanwhile, a hosted payload service comprises a portion of a satellite, such as a sensor, instrument or a set of communications transponders that are owned by an entity other than the primary satellite operator. The hosted portion of the satellite operates independently of the main spacecraft, but shares the satellite’s power supply, transponders, and in some cases, ground systems.

The collaboration with Sodern reflects over 60 years of strategic India–France cooperation in Space and marks a new chapter in deepening ties in the NewSpace economy. The partnership was announced during the official HCIM Business Delegation to France and Italy, led by Hon’ble Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, who has called for stronger Indo-French engagement in Manufacturing and Deep-Tech. Dhruva Space participated in this delegation with CEO & Co-founder Sanjay Nekkanti representing both the company and FICCI’s Space & Geospatial Data Committee as Co-Chair.

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About Sodern ArianeGroup

Sodern ArianeGroup is a strategic equipment supplier committed to tackling the major challenges of our time — both on Earth and in Space. With over 60 years of innovation across the Defense, Space, and Raw Materials Extraction sectors, Sodern is known for pushing technological boundaries to design and deliver reliable, competitive, and high value-added solutions.

Leveraging its broad expertise, Sodern continues to break new ground, driven by a strong foundation of core values: passion, audacity, proximity, and excellence. These principles, combined with the diversity of its experience, fuel both performance and inspiration across every project and partnership.

Visit https://www.sodern.com/fr/ for more information.

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About Dhruva Space

Dhruva Space is a full-stack Space Engineering solutions provider based in Hyderabad, India. Dhruva Space is active across Space, Launch, and Ground segments and supports Civilian and Defense clients worldwide.

The Company offers Satellite/s coupled with Earth Station/s and Launch Service/s as an integrated solution or individually as technology solutions to power Space-based applications on Earth and beyond.

Visit https://www.dhruvaspace.com for more information.

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