The Ministry of Defence is close to finalising a multi-year contract to deploy a constellation of satellites aimed at tracking potential space-based surveillance targeting India. The initiative marks a significant stride in India's efforts to integrate space technology into national security strategy, LiveMint reported, citing three officials familiar with the matter.
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Project Implementation
The project, valued at Rs 150 crore annually, is set to be implemented by 2026 and will be developed entirely within India. A network of inter-communicating satellites will relay data to ground stations, significantly enhancing India's space situational awareness. The technical operations and monitoring are expected to be managed by a specialised team, likely to be outsourced to a private space technology startup.
Key Capabilities of the Surveillance Constellation
The satellites will be able to communicate with each other and transmit data to multiple ground stations throughout India. All infrastructure, from satellite manufacturing to data relay systems, will be developed domestically. The network will be assembled entirely in India and deployed entirely by end-2026, each of the three people cited above affirmed, according to the report.
"This is one part of India's efforts to use its space prowess to bolster national security. The project in question will help preemptively detect space surveillance efforts against India, and will ramp up the capabilities that Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO's) Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) initiative can already achieve," said one of the people cited above, according to the report.
Bengaluru-based space startup Digantara, backed by Peak XV Partners, has been awarded the contract. The control operations for the satellite network are also expected to be based in Bengaluru. Digantara recently established a US entity in Denver to serve contracts from agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Department of Defense.
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NETRA Augmentation
The new satellite mapping initiative will augment the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) existing Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA), which currently monitors space debris and satellite trajectories. Unlike NETRA, the new constellation will focus exclusively on identifying and tracking surveillance efforts by foreign satellites.
The Space-Based Surveillance (SBS)-3 programme under which this project falls has been accelerated at the behest of the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Science and Technology, which have engaged three private firms for its implementation.
As part of this satellite mapping project, a control team is expected to work out of Bengaluru and may even collaborate with ISRO to synchronise their services, the second person was quoted as saying in the report, adding that the Bengaluru-based, Peak XV-backed startup Digantara has been awarded the contract.
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Chaitanya Giri, a space fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, said the project is a promising step forward, though its long-term impact will depend on its effectiveness once operational. "This will be a small peg in a large, extensive system. It's important to note that India already had some satellite and ground telescope-based surveillance monitoring systems, through Isro. The new project will be a big boost to Digantara (a startup), and is definitely a good thing since it will bolster the use of space services in India's national security capabilities. But, how effective it will be, and to what extent it will differentiate India's ability, will remain to be seen only after the project becomes active," he reportedly said.
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Government Collaboration
"This is one of the biggest private space contracts that the Indian government has offered to a private space startup in India. The move reflects growing confidence in India’s private space capabilities, and will eventually bolster confidence in domestic startups gaining contracts from around the world," the third person was quoted as saying.
The initiative also aligns with efforts by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to encourage greater collaboration between government departments and private space companies.
"There is a considerable amount of awareness work being done at ministries. The government can and will be a key customer for space services, and in the near term, the effects of these contracts and tenders will be seen," Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman of In-Space, was quoted as commenting on this broader trend.
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