Pixxel-Led Consortium to Build India’s First EO Satellite Constellation

Historic Achievement Under EO-PPP Initiative

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has selected a consortium led by PixxelSpace—in collaboration with Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space—to design, manufacture, launch, and operate India’s first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation satellite constellation under the EO-Public-Private Partnership (EO-PPP) model .

Scale & Scope

Investment Size: Over ₹1,200 crore (~$137 million) committed over five years .

Financing Model: Remarkably, the consortium bid ₹0 for the government contract—choosing to self-finance the entire project, foregoing up to ₹350 crore in government support .

Constellation Details

Total Satellites: 12 space-grade satellites to be developed within the next four to five years .

Payload Diversity:

Panchromatic (high-resolution optical)

Multispectral

Hyperspectral

Microwave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for all-weather, daytime/nighttime intelligence .

Strategic Capabilities & Stakeholder Roles

PixxelSpace: Leads design and hyperspectral imaging efforts (builder of the Fireflies).

Piersight Space: Brings expertise in SAR, ensuring round-the-clock operational capability and low-latency, radar-first data .

SatSure: Specializes in analytics and value-added services; to contribute optical/multispectral payloads via its KaleidEO subsidiary .

Dhruva Space: Provides satellite platform, power systems, and ground infrastructure, supporting full-stack delivery .

Key Objectives & Impact

Data Sovereignty: Reduces reliance on foreign satellite data by ensuring nation-controlled imaging, analytics, and access .

Wide-Ranging Applications: Data will serve climate monitoring, disaster management, agriculture, urban planning, infrastructure development, marine surveillance, and national security .

Industry Milestone: Demonstrates growing maturity and capability within India's private space tech sector, accelerating self-reliance in critical space infrastructure .