Pixxel, 7 others awarded $476 million NASA contract for providing satellite data for Earth sciences research

Pixxel, and 7 other companies have been awarded a multi million dollar contract for providing satellite data to the agency

Bengaluru-based space tech startup Pixxel on September 9 announced that it is one of the eight companies to have won a $476-million National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contract for providing hyperspectral earth observation data for research and application activities.

Under this contract, Pixxel, through its satellites that are already in orbit, will provide NASA and the US government and its academic partners with hyperspectral Earth observation data.  The maximum value of the contract is $476 million, and will be awarded cumulatively amongst all the selected contractors, and a performance period through Nov 15, 2028, NASA said in a release.

"The customer is NASA. They will buy the imagery from the eight companies, and they will share it with academic institutions and NASA laboratories and organisations. The specific utility of this would be for earth sciences. There will be no other applications apart," Awais Ahmed, CEO, Pixxel, told Moneycontrol.

The other companies who have won the contract are BlackSky Geospatial Solutions, ICEYE US Inc, MDA Geospatial Service, Planet Labs Federal, Satellogic Federal, Teledyne Brown Engineering, and The Tomorrow Companies.

These developments come at a time when several Indian space tech startups, buoyed by policy-level push from the government and vigorous interest from venture capitalists, are trying to establish themselves in an industry which has been pegged at $44 billion by 2033.

"I think it's a it's a very important contract win for us because there are two big opportunities for data sales globally. First being the NRO (National Reconnaissance Organisation) obviously for defense and intelligence, but this presents the second largest opportunity in terms of contract value," he explained.

"It's also important because traditionally people think space is for defense and intelligence, but in this case, it's for earth sciences and the climate. So it falls in line with our aim of building a health monitor for the planet," he said.

Going ahead, Pixxel is gearing up for its upcoming launch of Fireflies, a constellation of 6 hyperspectral satellites with 5 meter resolution. These satellites will capture data across 250+ spectral bands, offering coverage with a 40 km swath width and a 24-hour revisit frequency anywhere on the planet, the company said in a release.

Earlier Ahmed had said that the six satellites will be launched using the rockets of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Elon Musk-owned SpaceX.

Apart from the six satellites, Pixxel plans to expand its constellation to 24 satellites to make hyperspectral data commercially broadly available and accessible to stakeholders across industries and governments.

In 2022, Pixxel had launched its Shakuntala (Technology Demonstrator-2) satellite using the SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket. Till now, including Shakuntala, the startup has launched three satellites, with its last launch taking place in November 2022.