BENGALURU: SpaceX, early Wednesday, put into orbit satellites from three Indian startups — Bengaluru-headquartered Digantara and Pixxel, and Hyderabad-based XDLINX Spacelabs — aboard its Transporter-12 rocket that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Digantara’s inaugural space surveillance satellite, SCOT (Space Camera for Object Tracking), is one of the world’s first commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites, while Pixxel deployed the first three satellites of its ambitious Firefly constellation. ELEVATION-1, a satellite for US-based Almagest Space Corporation, fully conceptualized, designed, and developed by XDLINX in India, also tasted success.
“We’re overwhelmed. ELEVATION worked. In fact, within the first appearance over India, just a few hours after separation, it signaled us. This will push data rates into the 10Gbps regime. We are thrilled,” Syed Ahmed, Payload Scientist at XDLINX, told TOI.
Both Digantara and Pixxel teams watched the launch live from their headquarters in Bengaluru. “Successful separation confirmed. SCOT is in orbit. Now begins the commissioning and unlocking of the future of space surveillance,” Digantara said soon after the launch.
Digantara CEO Anirudh Sharma, while pointing out that any disruptions to satellite operations can trigger cascading impacts on Earth, said the firm, with SCOT, was taking a crucial step in achieving surveillance superiority, ensuring not only a safer and more sustainable space environment but also safeguarding sovereign assets.
“The successful deployment of our first commercial satellites is a defining moment for Pixxel and a giant leap toward redefining how we use space technology to address the planet’s challenges,” Pixxel CEO Awais Ahmed said after the launch.
Pixxel said Firefly satellites feature the world’s highest-resolution commercial hyperspectral imaging capabilities, with an unprecedented 5-meter resolution — six times sharper than existing hyperspectral satellites. Each satellite can capture data across more than 150 spectral bands, enabling detailed monitoring of chemical compositions, vegetation health, and water quality,” the firm said.
