India’s private space industry didn’t even exist until the government liberalized the sector a few years ago, but the companies in the space haven’t wasted any time in making their mark.
Indian space startup Pixxel has been awarded a NASA contract to provide satellite data. Pixxel was one of 8 companies that were selected from around the world to provide this data, and was also the youngest company on the list. The total value of the contracts provided to all 8 companies put together was $476 million (Rs. 4,000 crore).
“Under the contract, the recipients will be responsible for acquiring observation data from commercial sources that support NASA’s Earth science research and application activities that help improve life on the planet,” a statement from NASA said. “The goal of the awards is to give NASA a cost-effective way to augment or complement the Earth observations acquired by the agency and other U.S. government and international agencies for the benefit of all,” it added.
“Being selected for this NASA contract is a monumental achievement for Pixxel and further validates that hyperspectral imaging will be integral to the future of space-based Earth observation and enable us to truly build a health monitor for the planet,” said Pixxel CEO and co-founder Awais Ahmed. “We are deeply honored to support NASA’s Earth Observation initiatives and demonstrate the transformative potential of Pixxel’s hyperspectral technology in addressing critical environmental challenges,” he added.
Pixxel is a leader in the hyperspectral imaging and Earth Observation space. Hyperspectral imaging uses light from different wavelengths to determine information about a faraway scene. It obtains the spectrum of each pixel in an image of a scene, and is used for finding objects, identifying materials, or detecting processes. Pixxel is building a constellation of earth imaging satellites and also a software platform to extract hyperspectral imagery insights. The data and insights will help organizations detect, monitor and predict global phenomena in agriculture, oil and gas, climate change, forestry, urban planning and other sectors.
The NASA contract isn’t the first US contract that Pixxel has managed to bag — last year, Pixxel had won a contract from US’s National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), a member of the US Department of Defense, for providing it satellite data through hyperspectral imagery. The company plans to soon have 24 satellites circling the globe, which will collect hyperspectral data and make it available to industries and governments.
This is remarkable progress for Pixxel, which was founded only in 2019 by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal when they were still students at BITS Pilani. But Pixxel soon moved to the big leagues — in April 2022, it had launched its first satellite, Shakuntala, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. It had launched another satellite into space aboard ISRO’s PSLV mission in November 2022. Last year, Google had led a Rs. 300 crore funding round into the company. And with the company now winning a NASA contract, Pixxel — and India’s private space sector — seems to be rapidly coming of age.