With social media abuzz with satellite images dispelling Pakistan’s narratives around Operation Sindoor, the focus now is on a need for India to develop its indigenous satellite-based imaging and analytics sector.

The events of the last few days have made localisation of satellite imaging and the associated downstream technologies such as image analysis and change detection etc. a priority for the government. There is a “clear push” on private sector to accelerate work on this front, industry executives and policymakers told businessline.

Currently, India relies primarily on a network of ISRO’s satellites and those of a few foreign companies for satellite images. However, the space promotion body Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) has announced two key programmes to promote more homegrown private sector participation to build a constellation of satellites for civilian and military purposes.

While one is a ₹1,500-crore project to build and manage a space-based Earth Observation (EO) satellite system under a PPP model, the other is the SBS (Satellite-based surveillance) programme, wherein 52 surveillance satellites will be built to monitor India’s borders.

Shortcomings

Sources said that there is a clear push from authorities on the companies’ part of these programmes to get them up and running as fast as they can. “ISRO’s launch of its earth observation satellite EOS-9 has also been advanced to May 18; there is a keen focus to fill the gap on the satellite imaging segment,” an industry executive said. “However, this is not so easy given the supply chain constraints and we expect this to take at least 16-18 months,” the person added.

“Recent events have reiterated that it is very important for us to have a constellation of satellites and related applications exclusively for intelligence and surveillance purposes; both in the North and to monitor marine assets,” said Ananth Technologies Founder Pavuluri Subba Rao. Ananth Technologies designs and develops sophisticated avionics for ISRO and the Defence sector.

Arpan Saho, Co-founder and COO, KaleidEO, a company involved in imagery acquisition by building satellite hardware and camera capabilities, attributes the gaps to a capacity mismatch but there is a clear acceleration of initiatives to solve this. “We are seeing a lot of intent and uptick in the satellite imaging assets side,” he said.

Curtain raisers this year

However, there is some bit of localisation already in this segment.

Tata Advanced Systems Ltd along with partner Satellogic has deployed TASL’s TSAT-1A satellite, which is meant to deliver high-resolution optical satellite images through its multispectral and hyperspectral capabilities.

Similarly, US and India-based space start-up Pixxel launched the first three satellites of its Firefly constellation earlier this year, and is set to launch three more in the coming months. “We also won the iDEX Satellite Grant recently to develop miniaturised multi-payload satellites for the Indian Air Force, and that should also be ready by next year,” Awais Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Pixxel, said. “In two years, India will not be so foreign dependent in this area,” he added.

Further, the maiden launch of GalaxEye’s multi-sensor satellites is slated to happen by the end of 2025, and this is set to be equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical sensors, for all-weather, high-resolution imaging. Suyash Singh, CEO of GalaxEye, said India must invest in a strong geospatial downstream stack to enable rapid, actionable insights. “With our first satellite launching in October this year, this is especially vital for defence and national security,” he added.

Must build satellite intelligence muscle

“It is absolutely critical for India to build indigenous capabilities in satellite imaging, analytics, and reconnaissance. In an increasingly dynamic geopolitical environment, we should expand our satellite imagery capabilities for core intelligence and strategic applications,” Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest, said. The satellite imaging market alone is expected to cross $10 billion by 2030, he adds. Speciale Invest is an early investor in GalaxEye Space and Kawa Space. The firm has also backed other sovereign-critical ventures such as Agnikul Cosmos, QNu Labs, and InspeCity. 

Published on May 14, 2025