New Delhi

A consortium led by Bengaluru-based PixxelSpace has won the bid to build and operate India's first fully-indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said on Tuesday.

The PixxelSpace-led consortium, comprising Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India and Dhruva Space, will launch a constellation of 12 EO satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral and microwave SAR sensors over the next five years.

The Pixxel-led team edged out consortia led by Astra Microwave Products Limited and GalaxEye Space to win the bid to build the constellation under the Earth Observation satellite Public-Private Partnership (EO-PPP) model.

The constellation will deliver Analysis Ready Data (ARD) and Value-Added Services (VAS) for applications in climate-change monitoring, disaster management, agriculture, infrastructure, marine surveillance, national security and urban planning, while also catering to the global demand for high-quality geospatial intelligence.

"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," Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, said.

By generating high-resolution, indigenous satellite data, the initiative will significantly reduce India's reliance on foreign sources, ensure data sovereignty and position the country among the global leaders in space-based data solutions.

Under the PPP framework, the government will provide strategic, technical and policy support, while the PixxelSpace India-led consortium will own and operate the EO system, including satellite manufacturing, launches from Indian soil, ground infrastructure and commercialisation of data services.

"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 are grateful to IN-SPACe and the Government of India for trusting our consortium with this historic mission," Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel, said.

He said together with Satsure, Dhruva and PierSight, Pixxel looks 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," he said.

Rajeev Jyoti, Director, Technical Directorate, IN-SPACe, said all three shortlisted bidders submitted excellent technical and business plans, underscoring the growing maturity of India’s private space capabilities.

"This project is about building India's own independent and future-ready geospatial infrastructure. It will lead to Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in high-resolution optical and radar data for India, catalyse innovation, create thousands of high-skill jobs and contribute directly to our goal of growing India's space economy from USD 8.4 billion in 2022 to USD 44 billion by 2033," Jyoti said.

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The EO constellation will be deployed in a phased manner over the next four years to ensure continuous service upgrades and expanded coverage.