ETSA 2023 Best on Campus Winner | Space company Digantara has enough in the tank to soar higher

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

This is part of a series of interviews with the winners of The Economic Times Startup Awards 2023.

When computer science undergrads Anirudh Sharma and Rahul Rawat attended a conference organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation a few years ago, little did the two Lovely Professional University students know that winning the best student research award for their paper on ‘smoke detection in space’ would give them the boost they needed to start their venture in spacetech.

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The duo always had an interest in physics and space – but it was only after this win that they decided to make a career out of it. Sharma reached out to over 400 space agencies and research organisations globally, seeking support/advice — only one Latin American space agency agreed. During their university days, not only did they develop tech to track space objects but also secured patents and sold satellite components to this agency, culminating in the launch of the spacetech startup, Digantara.

Digantara bagged the Best on Campus award at The Economic Times Startup Awards 2023. Besides its technology prowess, the elite jury appreciated how it was able to start up from campus in a complex segment like spacetech and build traction in a competitive space that has recently seen a lot of entrepreneur and investor interest.

“Founding a space startup on a university campus has been an incredible adventure,” said Sharma, now CEO of the