



India finds a space surveillance market. Why regulations may pose a challenge
Mint explains the nuances of this new, yet strategically crucial, industry.Yes. Ever since the Indian space industry was privatized in 2020, a crop of private Indian space startups has emerged with core technologies that enable space-based surveillance services.These include imagery and data from satellites, analytics from ground stations based on satellite data, and maps of satellites that help countries monitor who might be observing them.
Alongside satellite-based communications, satellite surveillance is one of the largest pies of the Indian space industry, and is expected to deliver nearly 20% of its revenue annually.Bengaluru trio Pixxel, Digantara and GalaxEye are forerunners of private satellite surveillance, emulating US giants such as Maxar.Yes, but not in the commercial sense. In May 2005, Centre-backed agency Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) launched Cartosat, a constellation of satellites designed to offer three-dimensional data of the Earth's surface that was used for defence as well as other general purposes.However, as of the end of 2023, only one Cartosat satellite was operational, with no further updates from ISRO on its status in the recent past.
Isro’s Earth Observation Satellite (Eos) series also offers similar observation data. It is important to note that ISRO’s satellite data and imagery are purely for Indian usage, and aren’t generally retailed commercially to other countries.Space surveillance is a crucial resource in unmanned warfare.
Read on livemint.com