Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian aerospace firm GalaxEye on the successful launch of Mission Drishti, calling it a major milestone in India's space journey.
He praised the achievement as a reflection of the country's innovation ecosystem. The mission features the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and is also the largest satellite built by a private company in India.
“Mission Drishti by GalaxEye marks a major achievement in our space journey. The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite and the largest privately built satellite in India is a testament to our youth's passion for innovation and nation-building. Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to the founders and the entire team of GalaxEye," he posted on X.
Mission Drishti marks a first-of-its-kind step forward, opening a new era in which satellite imagery is more reliable, easy to use, and widely accessible.
The Satellite
In a major leap forward for Earth observation technology, the world's first OptoSAR imaging satellite was successfully launched today, setting a new benchmark in space-based imaging capabilities.
The satellite lifted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 East (SLC-4E) in California.
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Features
- Developed under the CAS500-2 mission, the satellite is designed to provide clear, reliable, and all-weather Earth imagery.
- Unlike conventional satellites that rely on separate systems or post-processing to merge datasets, GalaxEye integrates both optical and radar sensing into one unified architecture.
- Operating in a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit (LEO), the satellite will maintain consistent lighting conditions for repeated global coverage, making it especially valuable for environmental monitoring, disaster response, agriculture, and security applications.
- At the center of the mission is OPTOSAR, a dual-sensor system that combines MSI's detailed color and spectral imaging with SAR's ability to see through clouds and work in all weather conditions.
- The launch was executed by SpaceX, continuing its track record of supporting advanced Earth observation and scientific missions.
- GalaxEye could redefine satellite imaging standards by delivering a “one satellite, two sensors” capability at a level of integration not previously achieved in orbit.
- The satellite has an approximate mass of 190 kg and operates at an orbital altitude of 500 ± 10 km. It offers a spatial resolution ranging from 1.2 to 3.6 meters, enabled through a combination of SAR and multispectral imaging (MSI) capabilities.
- The system is designed to provide a revisit frequency of about four days, ensuring frequent Earth observation updates. It operates across multiple spectral bands, including X-band radar, Panchromatic (PAN), RGB, Near-Infrared (NIR), Coastal Blue, and Red Edge, supporting a wide range of remote sensing and analytical applications.
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