In a first major initiative, India is preparing for the launch of its first ever spy satellite, an Economic Times report said on Monday. The report said that the launch of the military-grade satellite will take place sometime in April this year. Another key aspect of this project is that a domestic player has been roped in. According to the ET report, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd is developing the satellite. However, it will be launched by SpaceX in Florida. A Business Standard report added that India will have full ground control of the satellite as the command center for this space mission is being set up in Bengaluru.

The ET report further said that inquiries regarding exports have already started coming in. It also added that the command center, which will be operational soon, will focus on image processing and guidance. Apart from Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Latin-American firm Satellogic is also working on setting up the command center.

The ET report said that the military satellite will provide imagery that will have a spatial resolution of 0.5 metre. The Business Standard report said that the imagery provided by the spy satellite will be made available to the friendly countries. Though ISRO also has satellites capable of sharing imagery, however, these have limitations due to the extensive coverage needed. Presently, India relies on US-based companies to access the requisite surveillance data.