Two Friends To Send India’s First Private Remote Sensing Satellite On ISRO Rocket

The first name that comes to our mind when we talk about private space companies is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. However, now you will soon have India's Pixxel space start-up.

You read that right!

Pixxel Space will soon join ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) as it readies India’s first homegrown private, commercial Earth-imaging satellite.

Pixxel is a young aerospace start-up from India, started by two BITS Pilani graduates Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal in February 2019. It has become Asia's only space start-up to qualify for the 2019 Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator in Los Angeles.

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you India's first private commercial and earth-imaging satellite. pic.twitter.com/5gUU265ARw

— Awais Ahmed (@awaisahmedna) January 12, 2021

The satellite designed by Pixxel Space will be called Anand – It is the first of the many Earth-imaging satellites that it plans to launch in space to offer a new kind of dataset while offering global coverage every 24 hours.

Pixxel developed software tools that use AI-based algorithms to offer crucial insights that can come in handy in industries like agriculture, oil and gas, agriculture, forestry, climate change monitoring and others. 

Reports have also revealed that the primary payload on the Pixxel rocket will house a Brazilian earth observation satellite named Amazonia. PSLV C51 is scheduled to launch sometime in February 2021.