India’s Pixxel is set to launch three of its six hyperspectral imaging satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket from California today, the first such network in the country’s nascent private space sector, Pixxel’s chief told Reuters.
The satellites will be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit at roughly 550 kilometres, with the remaining three slated for deployment in the second quarter of the year.
The launch is scheduled to take place at the Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Pixxel’s founder and chief executive Awais Ahmed told Reuters that it plans to add 18 more spacecraft to the six it has already developed, eyeing a share of the satellite imaging market projected to reach $19 billion by 2029.
The launch is a milestone for India’s nascent private space sector and for Google-backed Pixxel, a five-year-old startup.
It aims to use hyperspectral imaging – a technology that captures highly detailed data across hundreds of light bands – to serve industries such as agriculture, mining, environmental monitoring, and defence.
The company says its satellites can deliver insights to improve crop yields, track resources, monitor oil spills and country borders in much better details than current technology allows.
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