India wants its own EO constellation: implications
India has established itself as a global space power primarily through launch vehicles, navigation, and communications satellites. Now the country could do the same with remote sensing.
Gen. Anil Chauhan, the head of India’s military, called for a “indigenous constellation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites equipped with optical and hyperspectral sensors,” per Defense News.
India’s government plans to spend 250 billion rupees (~$3 billion) on space contracts over the next few years, Chauhan said. How much of that will go towards a domestically sourced Earth observation constellation is unclear, since more robust PNT, comms, space situational awareness and responsive launch are also priorities he mentioned. But the impact of a new EO constellation could be significant. International commercial operators that could be affected by this development include:
• Maxar Technologies. Last year Maxar described itself as “possibly the only space company to have a local entity in India.” Naturally that statement comes with myriad caveats, as other space companies do have presences in India (Hughes and SES for example), but Maxar’s large footprint means the company could find itself competing with the government in a few years’ time.
• Planet Labs. Indian press reported in 2017 that Planet was preparing to open an office there, but the company’s website and 10-K report make no mention of offices outside the U.S. and Europe. That said, Planet has highlighted business in India, and even created an India-specific webpage.
Several unknowns persist, such as to what extent India’s government, if it does build an EO constellation, will divert geospatial funds to “indigenous” programs, but it’s a development to watch.
India has a growing number of startups that have emerged since the country authorized private space ventures in 2020. Assuming India’s upward momentum in commercial space continues, domestic companies could benefit from national insourcing of EO data and services, notably:
• Pixxel. The Bengaluru-based startup, is building a constellation of 24 hyperspectral satellites for global Earth imaging. The company’s Technology Demonstrator-2 satellite, launched in April 2022, had the double milestone of being the company’s first satellite and India’s first commercial satellite (TD-1 was delayed until November). Last year Pixxel received a multi-crore rupee grant from the Indian MoD’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) program to build satellites for the Indian Air Force.
• Galaxy Eye Space. Also based in Bengaluru, the startup raised $3.5M in 2022 for a multi-sensor satellite constellation. The company has been maturing technologies with the Indian space agency ISRO, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian drone company ideaForge.
• Berlin Space Technologies. An early cubesat pioneer, BST has largely disappeared from the public radar screen in recent years. Behind the scenes, however, the company established an EO satellite manufacturing powerhouse in Ahmedabad, India partnering with Azista Industries Pvt. Ltd. Opened in June 2023, the 50,000 square-foot factory has the ability to manufacture two satellites per week and launched its first EO satellite the same month on Transporter-8.
• Satellogic. After scuttling plans for a Netherlands factory, Satellogic teamed in November with Tata Advanced Systems to build a satellite manufacturing plant in Karnataka, India. The companies are collaborating on satellites geared towards government and commercial Indian customers.
SOURCE: https://www.defensenews.com/space/2024/03/06/india-plans-to-spend-3-billion-on-space-can-it-catch-up-to-china/