Satellites

Spacetech startup Grahaa gets approval to launch nanosatellite from Brazil

Bengaluru-based company moves to validate its systems ahead of a larger satellite constellation rollout

Viasat in talks with Indian startups to build mini geostationary satellites

Miniaturised GEO satellites could reshape connectivity in India and attract demand from over 20 countries

Govt plans 'bodyguard' satellites after risky near-miss in orbit

The government wants to develop so-called bodyguard satellites to identify and counter threats to orbiting spacecraft

From petri dish to payload: India's next Big Bang in future deeptech

Part II of this series shines the spotlight on India's audacious deeptech builders - startups engineering the country's future by tackling challenges too complex for conventional innovation

Ananth Tech set to launch India's first private satellite broadband service

Ananth Tech gets IN-SPACe nod to launch ₹3,000-crore satellite broadband service by 2028, marking India's first private satcom rollout to rival Starlink, OneWeb, and Amazon Kuiper

SatSure, Dhruva Space sign MoU to deliver end-to-end space-based solutions

The strategic partnership aims to combine Earth Observation analytics with satellite platform capabilities to serve strategic and commercial users with high-reliability Indian tech

India's space sector must shift beyond ISRO, go global: Pawan Goenka

IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka says private firms must stop relying on ISRO, build full-stack solutions, adopt AI, and target civil applications for technologies like NavIC

Spacetech startup GalaxEye to build second satellite with 0.5 m resolution

Built entirely in-house, the satellite will offer 0.5m resolution and sub-3-day revisit for real-time geospatial insights across defence, disaster response and urban security

Intelsat gets govt nod for direct satellite broadcast services in India

US-based Intelsat has become one of the first foreign satellite operators to get approval from the Indian government to provide direct satellite coverage to domestic media organisations, a move that would allow the company to expand operations in the region. Following the authorisation from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), Intelsat won new business from three of India's largest media companies, the US company said in a statement here. The IN-SPACe approval authorises Intelsat to operate four geostationary satellites --? IS-17, IS-20, IS-36, and IS-39 --? offering C-band coverage across India. These satellites will support content delivery and distribution both within the country and beyond its borders. "This approval represents a significant step forward in Intelsat's contribution to India's space commerce sector, a source of great national pride," said Gaurav Kharod, Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific at Intelsat. "Our extensive satell

China launches 12 satellites to build world's 1st space-based supercomputer

China kickstarts its ambitious space computing project with the launch of 12 satellites, aiming to rival Earth's most powerful supercomputers with real-time, in-orbit data processing

Policy clarity: Trai recommendations should pave way for satellite internet

The regulatory guidelines will help businesses get visibility on the timeline to start their India operations for high-speed and low-latency internet service

Amazon launches first internet satellites to compete with SpaceX's Starlink

Amazon's first batch of Internet satellites rocketed toward orbit Monday, the latest entry in the mega constellation market currently dominated by SpaceX's thousands of Starlinks. The United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket carried up 27 of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, named after the frigid fringes of our solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellites will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 630 kilometres. Two test satellites were launched in 2023, also by an Atlas V. Project officials said major upgrades were made to the newest version. The latest satellites also are coated with a mirror film designed to scatter reflected sunlight in an attempt to accommodate astronomers. Stargazers oppose the fast-growing constellations of low-orbiting satellites, arguing they spoil observations. Others fear more satellite collisions. Founded by Jeff Bezos, who now runs his own rocket company, Blue Origin, Amazon aims to put more than 3,200 of these satellites int

US advises allies to shun Chinese satellite services in leaked memo

The memo by the state department warned that countries collaborating with China's space providers risks the transfer of sensitive information

SpaceX likely plans Starlink hub with multiple ground stations in Vietnam

The possible investment follows Vietnam's decision, amid US tariff risks, to allow Starlink to operate under a five-year pilot programme

Trump asks two spy agencies to train satellites to surveil US-Mexico border

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) oversee spy satellites and analyse imagery for the Pentagon and other intelligence organisations

60-plus LVM-3 rockets to be built with private sector's help: INSPACe chief

INSPACe has the mandate for promotion of the private space industry and also to authorise activities of non-government entities in the sector

Satellite connectivity: What is it, which phones support it, how it works

Mobile satellite connectivity enables a smartphone to establish a connection with a satellite network, providing communication in areas without cellular coverage

China successfully launches Pakistani satellite 'PRSC-EO1' into space

China successfully launched a Pakistani satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Friday. The satellite, named PRSC-EO1, was launched at 12:07 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The rocket also carried two other satellites - Tianlu-1 and Lantan-1. This launch marked the 556th flight mission involving the Long March carrier rocket series. China has been launching satellites for Pakistan in the last few years broadening their all-weather alliance into the space arena. Last year, China launched a multi-mission communication satellite for Pakistan. In 2018, China sent two Pakistan satellites into orbit. The PRSS-1, Pakistan's first optical remote sensing satellite, and the PakTES-1A, a smaller observation craft.

Pixxel, Digantara launch satellites to monitor earth, space objects

Two Indian space start-ups -- Pixxel and Digantara -- on Wednesday announced the launch of their satellites onboard a SpaceX rocket to closely monitor the earth and objects orbiting around it, marking a new era for the private firms in the space sector. Pixxel became the first private company in India to have its own constellation of satellites using the cutting-edge hyper-spectral frequency that allows observation of the earth in over 150 bands, a technology that is useful in sectors as diverse as agriculture and defence. Digantara Aerospace announced the launch of the world's first commercial satellite - Space Camera for Object Tracking (SCOT) - for surveillance of objects as small as 5 cm orbiting the earth to ensure safer space operations. Surveillance of outer space or situational space awareness (SSA) is important to ensure the safety of spacecraft as orbits around the earth become crowded with artificial satellites as well as space debris. Pixxel's three Fireflies, currently

SpaDeX satellites positioned 230 m apart, health status 'normal': Isro

The two Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites that the ISRO aims to unite in orbit are currently separated by a distance of 230 m, with their health status deemed 'normal', the space agency said on Saturday. On Friday evening, the satellites were separated by 1.5 kms. ISRO has said that the distance would be reduced to 500 m by Saturday morning. In a post on 'X', ISRO said, "Arrested at Inter Satellite Distance (ISD) of 230 m, all sensors are being evaluated. Spacecraft's health is normal." The space agency, however, has not committed to a date for conducting the docking experiments, which will bring the satellites together in space. The SpaDeX project has already missed two announced schedules for docking experiments on January 7 and 9. ISRO successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission on December 30. The PSLV C60 rocket carrying two small satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), along with 24 payloads, had lifted off from the first launchpad