GalaxEye's Mission Drishti was launched on May 3, 2026
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Indian space-tech start up GalaxEye has secured a US patent for the core technology behind its OptoSAR imaging system, strengthening its intellectual-property position as it looks to expand into global Earth-observation markets and build a 30-satellite constellation over the next five years.The company said it is the first Indian start up to receive a US patent for satellite imaging technology. The patent covers the architecture used to align and synchronise optical and microwave sensors for simultaneous, spatially and temporally matched data acquisition. The same foundational technology has already been patented in India.“This is not just a patent for us. This is an invention—an invention that came out of India,” said Suyash Singh, co-founder and CEO, GalaxEye. “We are building global-first technology truly in India—not importing it, not adapting it, but inventing it here, engineering it here and taking it to the world.”Multiple ApplicationsGalaxEye’s OptoSAR technology combines optical imaging, which provides visual and spectral information, with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which can operate during the day and night and through adverse weather conditions. The company believes this combination can support applications ranging from defence and strategic intelligence to agriculture, insurance and disaster response.“This patented technology enables us to serve the global markets and provide weather agnostic imaging capabilities across sectors like defence, agriculture, insurance, disaster response and more,” Singh said.The US patent comes as GalaxEye looks to move from demonstrating the technology to scaling its Earth-observation capabilities. Its first satellite, Mission Drishti, was launched on May 3, 2026. At around 190 kg, the satellite was described by the company as India’s largest privately built Earth-observation satellite at the time of launch.Next LaunchesSingh said the company’s objective is to build a constellation that provides a more persistent view of the Earth rather than simply reaching a particular satellite count.“Our vision is to build a constellation that gives us a much more persistent view of the Earth,” he said. GalaxEye plans to deploy two satellites over the next 24 months, followed by full-scale deployment, with capital expenditure also being phased alongside technology and market maturity.Mission Drishti has helped the company validate its systems in orbit and understand their performance under actual operating conditions, Singh said. The mission is also expected to provide the foundation for scaling its imagery and intelligence capabilities across a wider set of customers.StarOps AcquisitionGalaxEye is meanwhile building greater control over the satellite manufacturing chain following its acquisition of Bengaluru-based spacecraft engineering company StarOps in August.“The StarOps acquisition is part of our effort to build deeper capabilities across the satellite value chain,” Singh said. The move is expected to help the company design, build, test and iterate satellites more efficiently as it moves towards constellation-scale manufacturing.GalaxEye is already commercially active across defence, agriculture and forestry and is evaluating global markets where persistent, all-weather, day-and-night observation is required. “We are building capabilities across the satellite value chain, from spacecraft and sensing to the processing and intelligence layers that make the information useful to end users,” Singh said.Published on September 8, 2026
