Indian Startup Dhruva Space Achieves First Commercial Mission with SpaceX
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched Dhruva Space’s LEAP-1 satellite on Tuesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base. This marks the first full-stack commercial satellite mission for the Hyderabad-based startup. The mission signifies a noteworthy milestone in India’s burgeoning private space sector and fortifies Indo-Australian space collaboration.
The LEAP-1 carries two innovative Australian payloads: Akula Tech’s Nexus-01 AI module with advanced on-orbit processing capabilities, and Esper Satellites’ OTR-2 hyperspectral imaging sensor for high-resolution Earth observation. The satellite is constructed on Dhruva Space’s indigenous P-30 platform, which was previously qualified through ISRO’s PSLV-C58 mission in January 2024.
The hosted payload model allows for cost-effective deployment of multiple smaller payloads on a single satellite, demonstrating real-time geospatial AI processing in space. Dhruva Space CEO, Sanjay Nekkanti, emphasized this as symbolic of “India’s status as a fast-growing Space program”, with additional LEAP missions planned featuring customers from France and India.
Source: Business Standard