India’s GalaxEye to launch world’s 1st multi-sensor Earth observation satellite in 2026

Bengaluru, Oct 13 (IANS) Spacetech startup GalaxEye on Monday said it is planning to launch its maiden ‘Mission Drishti’ in Q1 2026, which is world’s first multi-sensor Earth observation satellite.

Weighing 160 kgs, ‘Mission Drishti’ is India’s largest privately-built satellite and also the highest-resolution one developed in the country.

The launch will also mark the beginning of GalaxEye’s satellite constellation programme, comprising 8-12 satellites to be launched successively until 2029, aiming to achieve near real-time Earth observation for global applications.

“With Mission Drishti, we are unlocking a new era of actionable data through space exploration. For the first time in the world, we are deploying a satellite that combines multiple sensing technologies on a single platform, enabling us to observe the Earth in ways that were previously impossible,” said Suyash Singh, Co-founder and CEO, GalaxEye.

This mission places India firmly on the global space map and creates a system that turns space technology into intelligence that businesses, governments, and communities can rely on, he added.

Bengaluru-based GalaxEye has built the world’s first multi-sensor Earth observation platform, carrying synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and high-resolution optical payloads on a single satellite. Enabling unprecedented earth observation data available through any weather, any time of the day.

The satellite will enable governments, defence agencies, and industries to perform advanced geospatial analysis across a wide range of applications, including border surveillance, disaster management, defence, utilities and infrastructure monitoring, agriculture as well as financial and insurance assessment – providing real-time environmental and structural insights.

The Drishti satellite has undergone comprehensive structural testing at ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), proving its capability to endure the harsh conditions of space, including extreme temperatures, vibrations, and vacuum.

Each satellite is engineered as a remote-sensing Earth observation system, optimised for spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions to capture high-precision imagery.

The first satellite will offer a spatial resolution of 1.5 metres, meaning each pixel in its imagery represents a 1.5 x 1.5 metre section of Earth’s surface from 500 km above.

—IANS

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