NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: In a boost for the country’s private space sector, Indian space-tech startups Pixxel, Digantara and XDLINX Space Labs on Wednesday successfully launched their high-tech satellites to monitor earth and space objects. The satellites were launched aboard Elon Musk-owned SpaceX‘s Transporter-12 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US, at 1915 GMT (just after midnight in India).
Pixxel launched its first three satellites of its Firefly constellation, which will be India’s first private satellite constellation. With the successful liftoff, the company has become the first to launch the world’s highest-resolution commercial hyperspectral satellites from India to space. With a 5-metre resolution attained for the first time in a hyperspectral spacecraft, Fireflies are six times sharper than the 30-metre standard of most existing hyperspectral satellites
“The successful deployment of our first commercial satellites is a defining moment for Pixxel and a giant leap toward redefining how we use space technology to address the planet’s challenges,” said Awais Ahmed, founder and CEO of Pixxel. The startup will launch three additional Firefly satellites in the second quarter of 2025.
Digantara launched its SCOT satellite aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission to enhance space safety and track Resident Space Objects (RSOs). The world’s first commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellite, will monitor Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with improved efficiency. Backed by Aditya Birla Ventures and SIDBI, it aims to support national security and space operations.
Hyderabad-based XDLINX Space Labs, an innovative Indian space technology startup specialising in nano and microsatellites, also launched its ELEVATION-1 technology demonstrator satellite, on board the same rocket, which is the first-ever Satcom E-band communications satellite. “We’re overwhelmed. ELEVATION worked. In fact, within the first appearance over India, just a few hours after separation, it signalled us. This will push data rates into the 10Gbps regime. We are thrilled,” Syed Ahmed, payload scientist at XDLINX, told TOI.