Pixxel-led consortium to build India’s first private Earth observation satellite network under IN-SPACe’s PPP model

The consortium will build 12 earth observation satellites

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on August 12 announced that it has selected a consortium led by Bengaluru-based Pixxel to develop and operate the country’s first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation under a public-private partnership model.

The winning consortium, which also includes Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space — will invest over Rs 1,200 crore in the project over the next five years.

The plan involves launching 12 EO satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors, a release by IN-SPACe said.

The constellation will provide data for sectors including agriculture, disaster management, marine surveillance, national security and climate monitoring.

The selection came after a competitive process in which three consortia were shortlisted.

Apart from PixxelSpace India’s group, the other contenders were Astra Microwave Products with Bharat Electronics, Sisir Radar, and Spectragaze Systems, and GalaxEye Space with CoreEL.

IN-SPACe said the project will help India cut dependence on foreign EO data and strengthen its data sovereignty.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, said, “This initiative signals the coming of age of India’s private space industry in the 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.”

Under the PPP model, the government will provide strategic, technical and policy support. The consortium will handle manufacturing, launches from India, ground infrastructure and data commercialisation. The satellite network will be deployed in phases over four years.

Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel said: “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’re grateful to IN-SPACe and the Government of India for trusting our consortium with this historic mission. Together with our partners Satsure, Dhruva and PierSight, we look forward to building world-class space-tech capabilities that serve the whole planet from Indian soil. This is India’s moment to lead the world in space-powered solutions.”

“SAR makes the constellation operational 24/7 in all weather conditions. Our role is to deliver radar‑first, analysis‑ready products with low latency, so agencies and enterprises get alerts and evidence, not just raw data,” said Gaurav Seth, Co‑founder & CEO, PierSight.

Once operational, the constellation is expected to be among the most advanced EO systems globally, designed and built entirely in India, IN-SPACe claimed.

“This PPP is about outcomes and execution speed. Our modular, software‑defined radar electronics and deployable‑antenna heritage let us iterate quickly and align to IN‑SPACe’s phased milestones,” said Vinit Bansal, Co‑founder & CTO, PierSight.