A consortium led by Bengaluru-based PixxelSpace has won the bid to build and operate the country’s first fully-indigenous commercial earth observation (EO) satellite constellation, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said on Tuesday.
PixxelSpace, which emerged the winner beating two rival groups in a closely contested bid, with alongwith its partners, invest over Rs 1,200 crore to deploy 12 high-resolution satellites, a move that has the potential to cut the dependence on foreign data and cement India’s place in the global EO market.
The winning consortium, which also includes Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India and Dhruva Space, will roll out the constellation in phases over four years, equipping it with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral and microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors. This mix of capabilities will provide data for sectors ranging from precision agriculture and marine surveillance to disaster management, infrastructure planning and environmental monitoring.
A Landmark Public-Private Partnership
PixxelSpace emerged ahead of two other shortlisted groups. One was led by Astra Microwave Products with Bharat Electronics, Sisir Radar and Spectragaze Systems, while the other one was led by GalaxEye Space with CoreEL. The selection was made under the Earth Observation satellite public-private partnership (EO-PPP) model, where the government provides strategic, technical and policy support while the private consortium takes charge of manufacturing, launches, operations and commercialisation.
Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe, said the development marks the coming of age of the country’s private space industry. “This initiative signals the coming of age of India’s private space sector. It demonstrates the capability and confidence of Indian companies to lead large-scale, technologically advanced and commercially viable space missions that serve both national and global markets. The EO-PPP model fosters an ecosystem where public and private capabilities reinforce each other to drive growth, innovation and self-reliance,” he said.
Bolstering Data Sovereignty and Economic Growth
Once fully operational, the constellation is expected to be among the most advanced EO systems globally, designed and built entirely in India. By producing advanced EO data domestically, the project aims to cut foreign dependence, ensure data sovereignty and position India among global leaders in space-based geospatial solutions. The government expects the initiative to spur innovation, create thousands of skilled jobs and help expand the country’s space economy from $8.4 billion in 2022 to $44 billion by 2033.
For PixxelSpace and its partners, the win is both a commercial breakthrough and a strategic milestone. “Being the winning proposal to build India’s national EO constellation is a major milestone for Pixxel and our consortium members in India’s space story. We are grateful to IN-SPACe and the Government for trusting us with this historic mission. This is India’s moment to lead the world in space-powered solutions,” Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel, said.
The consortium partners highlighted their individual strengths. Dhruva Space CEO Sanjay Nekkanti said the firm would contribute space-grade solar power systems and ground station solutions. SatSure co-founder Prateep Basu said its subsidiary KaleidEO would supply an optical and multi-spectral payload capable of high coverage at sub-metre resolution. Piersight’s Vinit Bansal pointed to its modular, software-defined radar electronics and deployable-antenna expertise as assets for rapid deployment.
Rajeev Jyoti, technical director at IN-SPACe, said all three shortlisted proposals were technically robust, underlining the depth of capability in India’s private space ecosystem. “This project is about building India’s own independent and future-ready geospatial infrastructure,” he said. “It will lead to Atmanirbharta in high-resolution optical and radar data and put India at the forefront of EO technology.”
