India-France space cooperation entered a “new phase” this month — with multiple new agreements and the fledgling involvement of private companies. More than 400 domestic space startups are now engaged in rocket building, satellite building, space applications and more. A key project in this area is the newly signed €5 million deal between Dhruva Space and Safran Space to build 275 satellites. The project is part of India’s broader Rs 26,968 crore Space Based Surveillance Phase III project to provide all-weather, high-resolution imaging and near real-time intelligence over land and sea.

“Megha-Tropiquesand SARAL, jointly built by ISRO and CNES, as well as cooperation in launch vehicle engine development, are some of the milestones of this enduring partnership. The realisation of the third joint satellite, TRISHNA, is also progressing well,” Union Minister Jitendra Singh added in an X post.

The Minister of State for the Department of Space noted that cooperation between the two countries had come a long way — “from sounding rocket experiments in the 1960s to present-day human spaceflight”. The remarks came following a meeting with French Minister Philippe Baptiste and a high-level delegation in Delhi on Monday. 

Growing military surveillance network

India began setting up a new line of defence in space a few years ago — with Operation Sindoor lending fresh urgency to the project in 2025. According to older reports by The Indian Express, work is presently underway to deploy 52 new surveillance satellites by 2030 under Phase 3 of the Space-Based Surveillance programme. The satellites will enable  efficient and enhanced monitoring of land and sea borders, with stronger imaging and all-weather functionalities.

Deployment efforts have been fast-tracked since the clash with Pakistan. An official told Indian Express in July 2025 that the government would “start launching the satellites from next year (2026) and the deployment of all satellites will be completed by 2029”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had outlined Mission Sudarshan Chakra during his Independence Day address in 2025 — envisioning a “multi-level missile defence system of modern India”.

The publication also reported that the Union Cabinet had approved $3.2 billion for the SBS-III program in October 2024. It will develop a series of next-generation satellites over the next decade — with ISRO manufacturing and launching the first 21 satellites. Private companies will handle the remaining 31, with the Defence Space Agency overseeing operation of the newly launched satellite system.

Private companies lead India-France space cooperation

Indian and French companies announced multiple deals during the International Space Summit in Paris earlier this month — including satellite launches, space surveillance and microsatellite technology. According to an official release, the list included contracts worth more than five million euros between France’s Safran Space and India’s Dhruva Space for technologies to be used in India’s planned 52-satellite space-surveillance constellation. This cluster is envisaged to deploy satellites between 2027 and 2030. 

According to a PTI report, the contract will cover supply of communication systems, inertial navigation units, optical payloads and ground stations for the SBS-III space-surveillance grouping. Safran has been involved in multiple Indian space projects, including theChandrayaan-III lunar mission and holds an industrial presence in the country. 

French launch-services provider RIDE! also signed an agreement to launch two satellites for ‘TakeMeToSpace’ during the event. The latter is an Indian company that describes itself as the first first designer of orbital data centres in the country. According to an official update, the agreement builds on several years of cooperation between RIDE! and Indian space companies — including the recent integration, launch and return of a European atmospheric re-entry capsule aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. 

A third deal was also signed between French space company U-Space and Indian firm AXISCADES during the event in mid-September. The commercial cooperation agreement will explore India’s microsatellite market and address growing commercial and institutional demand. 

52-satellite constellation in the making

The Indian intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance framework had historically relied heavily on a small number of large, expensive, and bespoke government-built satellites. Platforms such as the RISAT series (for Synthetic Aperture Radar/all-weather imaging) or EMISAT (for electronic and electromagnetic intelligence) also operated in a Low Earth Orbit — unable to provide continual, 24/7 surveillance over a specific target or geographical location. 

Failure of any such tracking satellites could also create a massive intelligence blind spot over the Indian Ocean Region. 

SBS-III operates somewhat differently — deploying a network of 52 military surveillance satellites that can connect with each other to ensure real-time tracking. The technology provided by Safran Space makes this feasible, while involvement of private companies hastens the deployment timeline. 

The timing of the project also gains additional significance after India’s indigenous navigation satellite system suffered a major setback earlier this year. One of the four operational satellites within the Navigation with Indian Constellation (or NavIC) cluster reported a failure “at the end of 10 years since its launch” in March 2026. ISRO sources cited by The Indian Express had said the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System’s IRNSS 1-F failed after its last functional atomic clock malfunctioned. At least four indigenous navigation satellites must be fully operational for the NavIC system to provide navigation services to the public and government agencies such as railways and the military. 

The Indian Space Research Organisation had subsequently suffered back-to-back military satellite launch failures within an eight-month window — losing the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite, the EOS-N1 (Anvesha) satellite and several other payloads. The EOS-05 satellite — the first-ever advanced earth-imaging satellite operating from geosynchronous orbit — was eventually placed into its precise orbit during a successful mission in early September.