Pixxel-led group wins India's first private national EO satellite project

Pixxel-led consortium will design, build, own and operate India's first privately led national Earth Observation system under a public-private partnership, deploying 12 satellites over five years

Pixxel, a planetary intelligence company that builds and operates advanced imaging satellites, on Wednesday formalised its agreement with the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to build India’s Rs 1,200 crore national Earth Observation (EO) constellation.

 

Leading a consortium of four Indian space companies, Pixxel will design, build, own and operate the country’s first privately led national satellite system under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework. Over the next five years, the consortium will invest more than Rs 1,200 crore to deploy 12 satellites spanning very high-resolution optical, multispectral, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and hyperspectral imaging.

 

The signing marks a watershed moment for India’s space sector, representing the country’s first private-led national EO constellation and one of the largest PPPs in Indian space history. It signals a structural shift from government-built satellite systems to private industry designing, financing and operating critical national infrastructure.

 

Commenting on the agreement, Awais Ahmed, founder and chief executive officer of Pixxel, said the project reflected a new phase in India’s space ambitions. “For the first time, India will control its own Earth intelligence infrastructure, designed and operated by Indian companies, serving Indian needs first and global markets second,” he said. Entrusting a Rs 1,200 crore national project to Indian startups validated the maturity of the country’s private space ecosystem, he added.

 

The Pixxel-led consortium includes Dhruva Space, PierSight and Satsure, bringing together capabilities across satellite hardware, mission operations, analytics and downstream applications. The combined platform is expected to provide an end-to-end EO ecosystem covering satellite deployment, ground infrastructure, data processing and value-added intelligence services.

 

Under the programme, EO data will be made available to Indian government users through IN-SPACe, while also being commercialised globally across sectors such as agriculture, environment, infrastructure, energy and maritime services.

 

The mission also advances Pixxel’s broader goal of building a full-stack planetary intelligence layer that enables continuous monitoring of Earth systems, moving beyond episodic observation to predictive insights on environmental and economic risks.

 

With the agreement now in place, the consortium will focus on execution and delivery, working closely with the government to build and deploy the constellation and shape how India produces, uses and shares Earth observation data in the coming years.