Google-backed Pixxel successfully launches India’s first private satellite constellation

BENGALURU — India’s space tech startup Pixxel launched three of its six hyperspectral imaging satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket from California on Tuesday.

The satellites were launched at 1915 GMT, just after midnight in India, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, a live telecast from SpaceX showed. The launch marks a milestone for the country’s growing private space sector and for Google-backed Pixxel, a five-year-old startup.

The satellites aim to use hyperspectral imaging, a technology that captures highly detailed data across hundreds of light bands to serve industries such as agriculture, mining, environmental monitoring and defense.

Such technology can help deliver insights into improving crop yields in India’s agrarian economy, track resources, monitor oil spills and geographic boundaries in much better details than current technology allows.

The remaining three satellites are expected to be deployed in the second quarter of the year.

The SpaceX rocket is also carrying a satellite from another Indian space company, Diganatara.

“By 2029, the (satellite imagery) market is projected to reach $19 billion. Hyperspectral imaging, which is new, could realistically capture $500 million to $1 billion of this,” Pixxel’s founder and chief executive Awais Ahmed told Reuters earlier on Monday.

The startup plans to add 18 more spacecraft to the six it has already developed, Mr.Ahmed said, adding that Pixxel has signed up around 65 clients, including Rio Tinto, British Petroleum, and India’s Ministry of Agriculture, with some already paying for data from its demo satellites.

The US is a major leader in satellite launches, due to private companies such as SpaceX and government contracts, while India, despite its established spacefaring capabilities, holds only a 2% share of the global commercial space market. — Reuters