There are around 5,000 satellites in low-earth orbit (altitude of less than 1,000 km) today. In future, that number could touch 70,000, making it difficult for launch vehicles or satellites to navigate in orbit.
But for Digantara, a space tech start-up from Bengaluru, this is an opportunity. The two-year-old start-up is offering solutions in space situational awareness, which means understanding the orbital environment better, with accurate data on space radiation and where each object is located, Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, told Moneycontrol.
On January 3, the start-up successfully launched its Pushan-Alpha satellite from a SpaceX rocket. The satellite, which will serve as a technology demonstrator, will first measure radiation in the sun synchronous orbit and study space for space-debris modelling.
This is Digantara's second satellite launch, with the first one taking place from an Indian Space Research Organisation rocket last year. Like Pushan Alpha, the first satellite was a tech demonstrator.
However, immediately, the start-up plans to begin working on launching commercial operations. Ultimately, Choudhury plans to have a constellation of 40 satellites in various orbits around earth. These satellites will generate data that would help not just in space situational awareness but also in space domain awareness, which helps in understanding activities across the entire orbit.
Sharma explained that customers for space situational awareness can be a satellite or a rocket launch company, while military or defence organisations could be customers for space domain awareness data.
In the coming months, Digantara plans to launch a satellite, which will be part of phase I of its 40-satellite constellation plan. Phase I involves a constellation of eight satellites.
The startup is currently being incubated by the Society for Innovation and Development (SID) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. In 2021 Digantara received seed funding of $2.5 Million from Kalaari Capital.
Why space situational or domain awareness matters
Explaining the need for space domain awareness data, Sharma said, “So today, you have insurance for rocket launches. But a lot of companies are not providing insurance for satellites. If a satellite is in orbit for five years, you don’t have insurance for five years.”
“The reason it is not available today is because we don’t know what is happening or what are the risks involved. But by having the knowledge of the entire domain, you can become underwriters … giving risk analysis data to insurance companies," Sharma said.
However, it’s not just space situational or domain awareness that Digantara is aiming to provide. The start-up also intends to aid in designing an entity's entire mission.
For that, Digantara has developed a platform called Space – Mission Assurance Platform, also known as Space – MAP. Using data from Digantara’s satellites in space, as well as ground based observatories, the platform will provide actionable data that would help customers with data on where to launch a satellite, orbit analysis, the risks involved, and the coverage involved in this orbit.
The firm recently signed an agreement with Government of Uttarakhand to establish India's first commercial space situational observatory. The observatory is expected to be operational by Q2 of 2023, Digantara said in a statement.
“It (the platform) can act like a digital twin for your mission,” Sharma said, adding that the platform has been developed in-house, and that the start-up was currently concentrating on developing the front-end of the software for customers.
The data will also help in addressing ‘false positive’ situations that arise in satellite operations and manoeuvring.
Sharma explains: “While operating a satellite, the more fuel you spend, (the more) it reduces the lifespan of your satellite, because you can’t do any manoeuvres. So, tomorrow, if a government agency asks you to do a satellite manoeuvre because an object is in your satellite’s path, there is no way of telling whether the data is accurate or not. These are called false positives.”
“And if you do a manoeuvre for a false positive, you're increasing your fuel consumption, which means you are reducing the life of your satellite. So, we help in satellite operations as well, where we tell you if you should do a manoeuvre. And if you were to manoeuvre, how to sequence that manoeuvre,” he added.
The business model
Sharma says that Digantara’s Space MAP platform will be like any other SaaS platform, but tailored to mission requirements.
“Once we tailor the platform to your mission, once your satellite and our platform are integrated, it’s a subscription-based model. You will have to subscribe to the services and analytics you use on the platform. Once the satellite is in orbit, we charge per satellite,” Sharma said.
The subscription can go on for the entire lifetime of a satellite. “This is a recurring fee that someone has to pay month on month. Depending on the analytics they use, there will be add-ons on top,” he explained.
For the Space MAP platform, Digantara has announced a beta service for customers that it has already partnered with.
What's ahead
Apart from working on its upcoming satellite launch, scheduled to happen in the coming months, Digantara plans to begin commercial operations by the end of this year or Q2 (July- September) of 2024.
“That is totally dependent on the timelines that we will have for launching these eight satellites,” Sharma said.
The start-up is also working towards building a 25,000 sq ft facility, which will serve as its office, as well as mission control for customers.
In this regard, the founders are working on securing Series A funding, which will be used to finance the launch of their eight-satellite constellation, set up more ground observatories, and build infrastructure.
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