Space Start-Up GalaxEye Builds First Drone-Based SAR System

SpaceTech start-up GalaxEye has unveiled a high-resolution aerial drone-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) System. The company claimed that it can perform exceptionally detailed and high-resolution all-weather imaging, even amidst rainy or cloudy conditions.

The in-house developed data fusion technology will deliver insights and data from space, empowering satellite constellations to conduct all-weather imaging without succumbing to the atmospheric hindrances that plague current single-sensor satellites. This opens doors for generating highly detailed images through a compact satellite constellation.

Upon achieving full operational capacity, this constellation will achieve global coverage within a 12-hour time frame. The capability of constant all-weather, all-time imaging, combined with precise object geometry analysis, holds immense value across diverse sectors such as Insurance, precision agriculture, accurate property tax assessments, and the monitoring of utilities like transmission lines, to name a few. 

“India is budding with young space start-ups. Among them, GalaxEye has been able to prove their capabilities in such a short period of time that too with difficult technologies like SAR,” stated Dr Sudheer Kumar, director capacity building office, ISRO. “We are keen to see young space talent shaping the future of the Indian space economy.” 

“Space technology is currently a very active area, having several young entrepreneurs. GalaxEye Space, spun out of IIT Madras, has grown by leaps and bounds since its incorporation. We are proud of their achievements and look forward to more such Make In India initiatives. We shall continue to nurture and continue to support budding entrepreneurs in the several ways possible”, said Dr. V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras 

“When we founded GalaxEye in 2021, our goal was to build a Tech Demonstrator prior to embarking on satellite launch. This achievement stands as a testament to the tech prowess of our team and a demonstration of our commitment to our Drishti Mission. Furthermore, it holds the potential to solve and address a multitude of commercial and strategic use cases/applications'', said Suyash Singh, co-founder and CEO of GalaxEye Space. “Along with India's recent space successes such as the Chandrayaan-3 Mission and National Space Day, this accomplishment adds to underscore the promising landscape of India’s space-tech ecosystem.”