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In 2019, Indian entrepreneur Awais Ahmed founded Pixxel in Bangalore, a company focused on Earth observation satellites. At the time, India’s cargo sector was not yet open to private space companies. Ahmed persisted, however, and Pixxel began breathing new life into India’s space industry. India now has 190 domestic aerospace companies, doubling the number, with private investment rising 77% between 2021 and 2022, according to Deloitte consultancy.
Ahmed said that in the early days, India’s space technology did not receive much attention because of the risks. But now, more and more companies are investing in India’s space industry. Pixxel’s hyper-spectral imaging satellites capture a broad spectrum of light, providing details not visible with ordinary cameras, and are used to monitor Earth health, including floods, wildfires and climate risks.
Although Pixxel initially hoped to use Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) rockets, ISRO had no plans to launch Indian satellites at the time. Therefore, Pixxel finally chose the United States’ SpaceX to launch the satellite. Pixxel has raised $71 million in investment, including $36 million from Google, plans to launch six satellites next year, and has a contract with the U.S. National Armed Forces Office to provide hyper-spectral imagery.
India’s space program has made tremendous progress, but ISRO’s budget remains relatively limited. India opened up its space industry in 2020, allowing private companies to participate more in the space economy. India has formulated a new space policy to focus ISRO on research and development and encourage industry sectors to participate more in the value chain of the space economy. India hopes to increase its share of the global space economy from 2% to 9% by 2030 and expects the market to reach $1 trillion by 2040.
Despite constraints such as limited resources and fierce competition, India’s space industry reforms are continuing. In the coming weeks, India also plans to pass a law to open up the space industry to foreign investors, giving a further boost to the sector.
(From: AFP, Image source: freepik)
