IN-SPACe awards EO-PPP to Dhruva Space, Pixxel, SatSure, and PierSight for India’s First Fully-Indigenous Private EO Satellite Network
In a first for India, four pioneering Indian Space Tech companies to design, build, launch, and operate a multi-sensor EO constellation, delivering sovereign, analysis-ready Geospatial intelligence for national and global applications.
Ahmedabad, GJ, India (12 August 2025) Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has officially awarded the contract for the Nation’s first indigenous, fully commercial Earth-Observation satellite constellation to a consortium led by Bengaluru-based Pixxel, with Dhruva Space, SatSure and PierSight as strategic partners. This award marks a defining milestone for India’s private Space Tech sector, bringing together 4 pioneering companies with complementary capabilities to deliver a state-of-the-art, sovereign EO ecosystem.
The Earth-Observation Public-Private-Partnership (EO-PPP) programme was launched by IN-SPACe in mid-2024 with the goal of accelerating the creation of an indigenous commercial EO satellite network operated by the private sector. It invited proposals from Indian Space Tech companies to design, build, launch, and operate multi-sensor satellite constellations capable of delivering high-quality, analysis-ready data for both national and global applications.
Under this historic initiative, the consortium will design, build, launch, and operate a constellation of 12 satellites over the next five years, representing an investment of more than ₹1,200 crores. The LEO constellation will integrate Panchromatic, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads, offering an unprecedented range of sensing capabilities from a single network.
Alliance for Innovation
Dr. Rajeev Jyoti, Director - Technical Directorate, IN-SPACe, said: “All three shortlisted bidders submitted excellent technical and business plans, underscoring the growing maturity of India’s private space capabilities. This project is about building India’s own independent and future-ready Geospatial infrastructure.”
Awais Ahmed, Founder & CEO, Pixxel, said: “Dhruva Space’s expertise in satellite platforms and mission operations, paired with Pixxel’s leadership in Hyperspectral imaging and spacecraft manufacturing, SatSure’s strength in Geospatial analytics, and PierSight’s advanced SAR and maritime monitoring capabilities, creates a partnership with truly complementary strengths. Together, we’re building a fully indigenous EO system that will deliver unmatched versatility for national priorities and global applications, and showcase the depth and capability of India’s private Space sector.”
Sanjay Nekkanti, Co-founder & CEO, Dhruva Space, comments, “The EO-PPP presents a tremendous opportunity to serve both India’s and the world’s growing Geospatial Intelligence needs. Every 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. With Dhruva’s expertise in the full-stack across the Space, Launch and Ground segments, we are able to deliver complete, sovereign solutions. With one of India’s largest upcoming spacecraft manufacturing facilities, the timing is right to leverage this infrastructure to scale for national and global markets — doing so in the spirit of genuine partnership and innovation.”
Prateep Basu, Co-founder & CEO, SatSure said, “We are excited to have received this opportunity from IN-SPACe in contributing to building India’s sovereign capabilities in the domain of satellite Earth Observation and data intelligence. 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. SatSure, with its subsidiary KaleidEO, will be contributing by commercialising its novel optical and multi-spectral payload that provides high coverage at sub-meter spatial resolution. I believe this is a milestone not just for India’s space story, but for how EO technology can deliver meaningful, measurable value to users across different industries.”
“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,” adds Gaurav Seth, Co‑founder & CEO, PierSight.
The EO-PPP marks a major leap toward private-sector leadership in India’s Space Tech journey, strengthening the country’s data sovereignty and creating a scalable commercial EO service model. The satellites will support mission-critical applications in agriculture, disaster response, climate monitoring, infrastructure planning, urban development, and maritime surveillance. By combining cutting-edge sensing technologies with advanced analytics platforms, the programme will provide timely, actionable, and high-accuracy Geospatial intelligence to users across Government, industry, and research.
About Dhruva Space
Dhruva Space Private Limited is a full-stack Space Engineering solutions provider based in Hyderabad, India. The company is active across Space, Launch, and Ground segments and supports Civilian and Defense clients worldwide.
Dhruva Space 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.
About Pixxel
Pixxel is a space data company and spacecraft manufacturer redefining Earth observation with hyperspectral imaging. With the successful launch of its first three commercial hyperspectral satellites, Fireflies, Pixxel is building a constellation of 18-24 satellites designed for a daily revisit frequency anywhere on Earth. This constellation will deliver the world’s highest-resolution hyperspectral imagery, enabling industries to detect, monitor, and predict critical global phenomena across agriculture, oil and gas, mining, environment, and other sectors with 50x richer detail than conventional satellites.
In addition to its Earth observation capabilities, Pixxel also designs and manufactures advanced small satellites, pushing the boundaries of spacecraft technology for a range of applications. The first three commercial hyperspectral satellites, Fireflies, were launched in early 2025, with three more set to follow in the next few months.. Aurora by Pixxel, the company’s in-house Earth Observation Studio, enables users to analyse satellite imagery effortlessly and makes hyperspectral data more accessible, interpretable, and actionable across industries.
Pixxel has raised $95 million from M&G Catalyst, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Google, Aditya Birla Ventures, Google, Lightspeed, Radical Ventures and others.
About SatSure
SatSure is a vertically integrated Earth intelligence provider, with headquarters in Bengaluru, India. Founded in 2017, SatSure is an expert in building combining geospatial data and artificial intelligence to create niche products that serve the financial services, agriculture, utilities, forestry, energy and aviation industries. It serves customers across India, Western Europe, Australia, North America, the Middle-East and Japan.
About PierSight
PierSight is creating a persistent and dynamic view of all human activity at sea. This will be powered by a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites, which enable precise tracking of each and every marine asset.
PierSight’s solutions will serve shipping, insurance, Defence, coastguard, oil & gas, and other organizations that rely on maritime intelligence.
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