SatLeo Labs to put India's 1st commercial thermal eye in space on Thursday

TAPAS-1 will demonstrate thermal sensing and data-processing capabilities in orbit, laying the groundwork for a planned constellation of 10-15 satellites by 2029

Space-tech startup SatLeo Labs is all set to launch India's first dedicated commercial CubeSat-category thermal payload and the opening flight of the country's first full-stack commercial thermal intelligence platform on Thursday via Dhruva Space’s LEAP-2 aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission on a Falcon 9.

 

This will be part of a constellation of 10-15 thermal imaging satellites that the company wants to launch by 2029. "It is India's first commercial private thermal payload,” said Urmil Bakhai, co-founder and chief strategy officer (CSO) of SatLeo Labs, adding that TAPAS-1 is a full-fledged payload mounted on a satellite platform rather than merely a component-level technology demonstration.

 

 

TAPAS-1 (Thermal Access Platform for Analytics & Solutions), developed by SatLeo Labs, is India's first dedicated commercial CubeSat-category thermal payload. Using thermal infrared (TIR) sensing, TAPAS-1 captures temperature information invisible to conventional optical imagery, enabling in-orbit demonstration and validation of SatLeo's thermal sensing technology, payload performance and data-processing capabilities. The mission marks a category-first for India in dedicated commercial thermal (LWIR) Earth observation.

 

The mission lays the foundation for SatLeo's next-generation thermal intelligence platforms, with applications spanning climate monitoring, agriculture, urban heat mapping, disaster management and infrastructure monitoring, and represents a key step towards PYRO, SatLeo's flagship thermal constellation. SatLeo Labs describes its technology as a “thermometer for planet Earth”, aimed at measuring land surface temperatures at higher spatial resolution and frequency than currently available datasets.

 

The company plans to follow TAPAS-1 with TAPAS-2, which is already in the manufacturing stage and is expected to be launched by mid-2027. For TAPAS-2, the company is considering both Indian launch vehicles and private launch providers, depending on launch schedules and commercial considerations.

 

TAPAS-1 will carry a long-wave infrared sensor. TAPAS-2 will add medium-wave infrared and optical sensing capabilities, creating a multi-sensor payload, he said. The company's PYRO mission will involve a 150-kg-class microsatellite carrying multiple sensing bands.

 

He said SatLeo Labs has already received letters of intent (LOIs) worth about $52 million from seven to eight customers. The prospective customers include companies in India and abroad, including players from the Middle East, Australia and the US.

 

SatLeo's thermal technology has already moved from concept to real-world use. In Tumakuru, Karnataka, satellite- and drone-based thermal monitoring has helped the city corporation track methane build-up at a 40-acre landfill and map urban heat islands, replacing reactive, complaint-based response with proactive, data-led governance.

 

In Ahmedabad, working with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, SatLeo's platform delivered heat forecasts accurate to within 2-3°C, issuing QR-code heat advisories to outdoor workers and giving health teams advance notice to prepare for extreme heat. With TAPAS-1, SatLeo takes this validated, ground-proven technology into orbit.