In his first Mann Ki Baat radio address of the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based private space-tech startup, for its groundbreaking achievement in India's space sector. The company recently launched ‘Firefly,’ India’s first private Earth imaging satellite constellation, marking a historic moment for the nation’s space ambitions.

What is the ‘Firefly’ Satellite Constellation?

Pixxel’s ‘Firefly’ constellation, which is the country’s first commercial satellite network, was launched into a 550-kilometre low Earth orbit earlier this week. Three satellites were sent into space using a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. These satellites will provide highly accurate climate and Earth data, helping monitor global phenomena with unmatched precision.

Prime Minister Modi, in his 118th episode of Mann Ki Baat, shared his pride in announcing the successful launch, calling it the world’s highest-resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation. This technological achievement sets a new benchmark for Earth monitoring, offering more detailed insights than existing systems.

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Features of the Firefly Constellation

What sets Firefly apart from other Earth imaging satellites is its incredible resolution. These satellites are six times sharper than the current 30-metre resolution standard for hyperspectral satellites, allowing for detailed observations that were previously not possible. The Firefly constellation is specifically designed to monitor, detect, and predict global environmental changes with remarkable accuracy.

Pixxel also plans to launch three additional satellites later this year to further enhance the constellation's capabilities.

Before Firefly’s launch, India’s space imaging capabilities were primarily operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which manages a fleet of around 52 satellites. Pixxel, founded in 2019 by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, is now a major player in the private space-tech industry. With offices in both India and the US, the startup has already raised $95 million, marking its success as one of the brightest stars in India’s growing satellite sector.

Acknowledging ISRO’s Space Milestones

In addition to lauding Pixxel’s achievement, PM Modi also praised ISRO for another major milestone—the successful docking of satellites as part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX). With this breakthrough, India has become the fourth country in the world, after the US, Russia, and China, to successfully demonstrate space docking, joining two satellites in space and controlling them as a unified system.