News · Government, Defense & Space

GalaxEye loses contact with first satellite after solar storm

What they do

GalaxEye builds multi-sensor Earth observation satellites for defence, agriculture and infrastructure

Its first satellite, Mission Drishti, lost communication after a geomagnetic solar storm anomaly during final orbit stage

The company has raised about ₹44.2 Cr from existing investors in an extended Series A round, bringing total funding to about $27 Mn

GalaxEye lost communication with its first OptoSAR satellite, named Mission Drishti, after a geomagnetic solar storm anomaly.
The satellite had completed most of its Launch and Early Orbit Phase, validating deployment, onboard computing and communications systems.
The link loss occurred in the final stage of orbit insertion.
Initial radiation effects from the space weather event likely damaged a critical onboard system.
The mission tested GalaxEye's in-house mission operations capability through its Bengaluru Mission Control Centre.
Cofounder and CEO Suyash Singh commented that the anomaly provides engineering insights for future missions.
GalaxEye plans to launch two new OptoSAR satellites within the next 24 months.
The company is expanding in-house capabilities to improve quality, reliability and execution.

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GalaxEye builds multi-sensor Earth observation satellites for high-resolution imaging and geospatial intelligence.
Its customers include defence, agriculture, infrastructure and disaster management sectors.
Mission Drishti is the world's first commercial multi-sensor satellite combining SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and MSI (Multi-Spectral Imaging) on a single platform.
It is India's largest privately built satellite and offers the highest-resolution imagery from any private player in the country.
Fused resolution is 1.8 metres; SAR resolution reaches up to 0.9 metres in Spotlight mode.
MSI native resolution is 3.6 metres GSD at nadir (ground sample distance directly below the satellite).
Swath (image width) is 30 km for SAR and 10 km for MSI.
The MSI sensor has 7 bands including Coastal Blue, Red Edge and NIR (Near Infrared).
The SAR sensor operates in X-Band, with VV Polarization, Stripmap and Spotlight modes.

GalaxEye plans to launch two new OptoSAR satellites within the next 24 months.
The company is expanding in-house capabilities to improve quality, reliability and execution.

Product: OptoSAR satellites combining optical and synthetic aperture radar for all-weather day-and-night Earth observation capabilities
Customers: Government agencies, defense establishments, agriculture, insurance and disaster response sectors globally
How it makes money: B2G and B2B model providing satellite Earth observation data and services
What sets it apart: Proprietary OptoSAR technology enabling weather-agnostic imaging with 66% indigenization and reduced global supply chain dependence
Operations: Vertically integrated satellite design and manufacturing through acquisition of StarOps with in-house engineering capabilities