Spacetech startup Dhruva Space to launch maiden commercial mission with Australian collaboration – The Economic Times

Hyderabad-based spacetech startup Dhruva Space is about to launch its first industrial mission, LEAP-1, in collaboration with Australian companions Akula Tech and Esper Satellites. The mission is scheduled to elevate off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket within the third quarter of 2025.

The startup on Monday stated the LEAP-1 mission will carry two payloads on Dhruva’s indigenously developed P-30 satellite tv for pc platform, a synthetic intelligence (AI)-powered module from Akula Tech and a hyperspectral imager from Esper Satellites. The mission represents a rising Indo-Australian strategic partnership within the house tech sector.

The 2 payloads could have a variety of functions throughout defence, catastrophe response, agriculture, mining, and environmental administration. Akula Tech’s on-board AI module is designed to course of and retrain machine studying fashions in orbit for earth commentary use instances. Esper Satellites’ imager will ship spectrally-rich distant sensing information by way of its know-how.

This shall be Dhruva’s first hosted payload mission after efficiently testing its P-30 satellite tv for pc bus in orbit throughout ISRO’s PSLV-C58 POEM-3 mission in January 2024. “Dhruva Area’s hosted payload providing integrates floor station-as-a-service (GSaaS) and its proprietary Built-in Area Operations and Command Suite (ISOCS) for real-time mission administration and payload information downlinking,” the startup stated in an announcement.

The startup stated it’s seeing a rising curiosity in its payload choices from prospects throughout India, Europe, and Australia.

“Teaming up with our industrial companions in Australia creates outstanding alternatives for Indo-Australian Area enterprise, which can, in flip, foster a long-term partnership. India is already a key financial and regional associate, and we see this mission symbolic of India’s standing as a fast-growing house programme,” stated Sanjay Nekkanti, cofounder, Dhruva Area.

The house startup credited ISRO and the Australian Area Company, whose engagement in September 2022 led to significant interactions with a delegation of Australian house startups. These discussions helped construct long-term Indo-Australian partnerships and help from SpaceX for mission readiness.