BANGALORE: Two Indian space start-ups, Pixxel and Digantara, achieved a major milestone on Wednesday, January 15, by launching their satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket. These satellites are designed to monitor Earth and objects in orbit, marking a breakthrough moment for private companies in India's growing space sector.

Pixxel has made history as the first private Indian company to establish its own constellation of satellites equipped with advanced hyperspectral imaging technology. This cutting-edge system observes the Earth in over 150 spectral bands, offering applications across sectors like agriculture and defense.

Digantara, on the other hand, unveiled the world's first commercial satellite called the Space Camera for Object Tracking (SCOT). This satellite specializes in monitoring space objects as small as 5 cm, aiming to ensure safer space operations by addressing the growing risks of orbital congestion.

The Need for Space Surveillance

Space situational awareness (SSA) is becoming increasingly vital as Earth's orbits are crowded with satellites and space debris. Monitoring these objects is essential to ensure the safety of spacecraft and other assets.

Pixxel's three FIREFLY satellites provide six times greater resolution than the conventional 30-meter standard, capturing intricate details that traditional systems cannot. Pixxel plans to launch three additional Firefly satellites in the next two months, followed by 18 more in the future. These advanced capabilities could transform various industries, especially defense, with precise insights into environmental and material changes.

Digantara’s SCOT satellite represents a major step toward building a more sustainable space environment. By tracking objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) from its sun-synchronous orbit, SCOT addresses the limitations of current tracking systems that are hindered by weather, geographic constraints, and limited fields of view.

As one of the first commercial satellites dedicated to SSA, SCOT is designed to monitor Resident Space Objects (RSOs) with unparalleled accuracy and frequency. This effort is part of Digantara’s broader mission to create a hybrid network of surveillance systems for continuous monitoring of near-Earth space.

Advanced Imaging and Industry Applications

Pixxel's Firefly satellites are capable of detecting minute changes in vegetation health, water quality, chemical composition, and atmospheric conditions with unmatched precision. Kshitij Khandelwal, Pixxel’s co-founder and CTO, emphasized the advantages of narrowband sensors over traditional broader spectral bands. These capabilities reveal hidden patterns and anomalies critical for applications in agriculture, climate action, and more.

Pixxel’s technology has already attracted over 60 clients, including the US National Reconnaissance Organization, Rio Tinto, British Petroleum, and India’s Union Ministry of Agriculture, all of whom are leveraging hyperspectral data from its demonstration satellites.