GalaxEye, a space startup, will launch the first-ever multi-sensor Earth observation satellite called ‘Drishiti’ in partnership with SpaceX. Pranit Mehta, one of the five co-founders and an IIT-Madras alumnus, shared this exciting news. The launch is planned for mid-2025. The company, incubated at IIT-Madras, is based in Bengaluru.
“This will be a 150-kg high-resolution indigenously-developed satellite, and we plan to launch a constellation of five satellites, with Drishiti being the first. By this time next year, we will already be in space. We aim to position ourselves as a key provider of data across various altitudes,” he said, adding that the ready-to-launch satellite will be transported to the US.
“Earlier, we considered the ISRO spaceport, but there were some timeline challenges. While discussions with them are still ongoing, we have finalized SpaceX for this launch, being the first startup to do so,” Mehta said, adding that this marks a full circle for the team, who were the Asian Finalists at the SpaceX Hyperloop Competition in 2019.
In September, Infosys, a major Indian IT firm, acquired a minority stake in GalaxEye for Rs 17 crore. Speaking about the partnership, Mehta highlighted its strategic importance. “Infosys coming on board is crucial for us because once the satellite is in orbit, there will be a massive amount of data to manage,” the IIT-M alumni explained.
By partnering with Infosys, GalaxEye can leverage the company’s vast expertise and global market reach. “Infosys has a wide range of use cases, and instead of reinventing the wheel and going the IT way, we plan to do data processing and signal management. This collaboration will enable us to develop downstream applications that can serve a variety of industries, effectively harnessing the satellite’s capabilities,” Mehta added.
Another insight he shared is that standalone satellite imagery won’t be sufficient for industries. “Companies typically rely on multiple sources of intelligence—whether from partners, the industry itself, or other channels—when making decisions. Collaborating with companies like Infosys helps us tap into that broader ecosystem, bringing diverse insights together,” the co-founder said.
The indigenously built Drishti satellite will operate in space for five years. It will use both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) sensors to capture high-resolution images of Earth. This technology is a first in the industry, and the company has already applied for a global patent.
Projected to cost only about 50-60% of what similar satellites previously launched for Mehta believes, “This cost efficiency is not only significant from a financial perspective but also in terms of use cases, as we are integrating two sensors at that price point. Such frugality is ingrained in India’s DNA.”
He added that the work took three years, starting at the IIT-Madras lab with proof-of-concept. “This innovative approach demonstrates that the two sensors can coexist and effectively capture data.”
Mehta said the goal has always been to make satellite imagery more accessible, not just to treat it as another data source. “We are currently focusing on a wide range of software applications. While we could just become a data player, we want industries across various sectors to recognize the inherent value that satellite data can provide,” the co-founder expressed.
