The Technology Development Board (TDB) has signed an agreement with Bengaluru-based GalaxEye Space Solutions Private Limited to provide ₹63.84 crore in financial support under the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The support, announced on 24 September 2026, will be given as Optionally Convertible Debentures for a project with a total approved cost of ₹247.69 crore. The project will develop a multisensor satellite for high resolution OptoSAR imaging and take the technology from laboratory validation to full deployment.
What Is GalaxEye?
GalaxEye is an Indian private space technology startup based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. GalaxEye Space Solutions Private Limited was incorporated in May 2021 by five engineers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), namely Suyash Singh, Denil Chawda, Kishan Thakkar, Pranit Mehta and Rakshit Bhatt. The team had earlier worked together on Team Avishkar Hyperloop, the IIT Madras student team that reached the finals of the SpaceX Hyperloop competition in 2019.
The company builds Earth observation satellites that carry more than one sensor on the same platform. Its core product is the OptoSAR payload, which combines radar and optical imaging in a single satellite. The company tested its sensor approach through nearly 500 aerial trials using drones and aircraft, and flew a technology demonstration payload on the Indian Space Research Organisation Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle POEM platform in December 2024.
GalaxEye launched its first satellite, Mission Drishti, on 3 May 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California. The 190 kg Drishti satellite is described as India’s largest privately built Earth observation satellite and the world’s first commercial satellite to carry SAR and multispectral imaging sensors on one platform. GalaxEye is a private unlisted company (as of September 2026). It is not listed on any stock exchange, so there is no official GalaxEye share price.
What Is OptoSAR Satellite?
An OptoSAR satellite is an Earth observation satellite that carries both an optical camera and a Synthetic Aperture Radar on the same spacecraft and records both data streams at the same time. The combined data gives clear, easy to read imagery in day and night and in all weather conditions.
OptoSAR stands for Optical plus Synthetic Aperture Radar. The GalaxEye project aims for imaging with resolution of less than 0.5 metre, which means it can distinguish objects smaller than half a metre on the ground. This is sharper than the nearly 1.2 to 1.5 metre resolution reported for the first Drishti satellite. The satellite will also use onboard processing, including processors such as the Nvidia Jetson Orin used on Drishti, to convert raw radar data into usable images faster.
The TDB supported project will carry out further design, engineering, testing and validation of this multisensor technology. The goal is to move the system from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 to TRL 9. TRL is a nine point scale used to measure how mature a technology is. TRL 6 means a prototype has been demonstrated in a relevant environment. TRL 9 means the actual system has been proven through successful operation.
How Does Synthetic Aperture Radar Work?
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an active imaging system. Active means the satellite sends out its own pulse of microwave energy and records the part of the pulse that bounces back from Earth. This is different from an optical or electro-optical camera, which is passive and depends on sunlight reflected from the ground.
Optical images look like normal photographs and are easy to read, but they fail in darkness, cloud cover, smoke and monsoon rain. SAR uses microwaves with wavelengths of a few centimetres, so the signal passes through clouds, smoke and rain and works equally well in day and night. The limitation is that raw SAR images look like grainy black and white patterns and are hard for most users to interpret.
OptoSAR tries to solve this trade off by placing a Multispectral Imager (MSI) and a SAR sensor side by side on one satellite. MSI is a camera that records light in several bands, including visible and near infrared bands. Because both sensors view the same spot at the same time and from the same angle, their data can be fused into a single image. The fused image keeps the clarity of an optical photo with the all weather reliability of radar. GalaxEye calls this synchronised fusion SyncFused OptoSAR.
Details of the TDB GalaxEye Agreement
The Technology Development Board signed the agreement with GalaxEye Space Solutions Private Limited for support under the RDI Fund. The announcement was made by the Department of Science and Technology on 24 September 2026. TDB Secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak said the fund helps technology intensive projects cross the difficult stage between advanced development and deployment, and that the GalaxEye agreement supports indigenous capability in emerging space technology and its path to commercial use.
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Funding agency | Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science and Technology |
| Recipient company | GalaxEye Space Solutions Private Limited, Bengaluru |
| Support amount | ₹63.84 crore |
| Total approved project cost | ₹247.69 crore |
| Funding instrument | Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCD) |
| Technology goal | Multisensor satellite for OptoSAR imaging with resolution of less than 0.5 metre |
| Maturity target | From TRL 6 to TRL 9 through development, engineering, testing and validation |
Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCD) are a type of loan security issued by a company. Debenture means the company borrows money and promises to pay interest and return the amount later. Optionally convertible means the lender can choose later either to get the money back as a loan repayment or to convert the amount into shares of the company. This structure gives the government a way to support a high risk technology startup while keeping the option of an equity stake if the technology succeeds.
What Is the RDI Fund and What Is the Role of TDB?
The Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund is a ₹1 lakh crore scheme to increase private sector investment in research in strategic and sunrise sectors. Sunrise sectors are fast growing future areas such as space, defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology and clean energy. The Union Cabinet approved the RDI Scheme on 1 July 2025. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the nodal department for implementation, and the fund was launched on 3 November 2025 with the national goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.
The RDI Scheme works through a two level structure. At the first level, a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) is held within the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) as custodian of the money. ANRF was set up under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act, 2023, which came into force on 5 February 2024, to give strategic direction to research and innovation. At the second level, the money reaches companies and startups through second level fund managers such as Alternative Investment Funds, development finance institutions, non banking finance companies and focused research bodies. Support is given mainly as long term loans at low or nil interest, and also as equity in the case of startups. The scheme can cover up to 50 percent of the assessed project cost for projects at TRL 4 and above.
The Technology Development Board is one of the first two second level fund managers under the RDI Fund, along with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). The Empowered Group of Secretaries approved both bodies for this role in January 2026, with ₹2,000 crore each allocated in the first phase. TDB is a statutory body of DST, set up on 1 September 1996 under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995. Its mandate is to give financial help to Indian companies and agencies for commercial use of indigenous technology or for adapting imported technology for wider use in India. TDB traditionally gives soft loans at 5 percent simple interest, equity support and grants in exceptional cases. The GalaxEye agreement is one of the early industry projects financed by TDB in its new role as an RDI fund manager.
Why the Agreement Matters for India
The timing of the support is important. After the May 2026 launch of Mission Drishti, GalaxEye reported post launch complications during commissioning and later moved to development of the next generation Drishti system. The TDB funding will help the company complete the engineering, testing and validation needed to take the improved high resolution system to operational use. In effect, the public money bridges the riskiest middle stage of development, when a prototype exists but a flight ready commercial satellite does not.
The capability itself fills a clear national gap. Optical satellites cannot image India during monsoon cloud cover, smoke or at night. Continuous radar plus optical coverage will help in border surveillance, wide area and long range surveillance, detection of human and vehicle movement, disaster response during floods and cyclones, agriculture monitoring, coastline watch and infrastructure planning. The technology can provide images every few hours once deployed as a constellation, instead of a revisit gap of seven to ten days with a single satellite.
The agreement also reflects the growth of India’s private space sector. The sector is now guided by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which promotes private participation, and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation. GalaxEye has signed a distribution partnership with NSIL and reports distribution links in more than 20 countries. The company plans to expand from a single satellite to a constellation, with stated goals of 8 to 12 satellites in the next few years and up to 30 satellites by 2030 to give revisit times of a few hours. Domestic development of such sensors reduces dependence on foreign Earth observation data for sensitive defence and planning needs.
Key Takeaways
- The Technology Development Board signed an agreement with GalaxEye Space Solutions on 24 September 2026 for ₹63.84 crore support under the RDI Fund.
- The total approved project cost is ₹247.69 crore, with TDB support given as Optionally Convertible Debentures.
- The project will build a multisensor satellite for OptoSAR imaging with resolution of less than 0.5 metre and advance the technology from TRL 6 to TRL 9.
- GalaxEye, founded in May 2021 by IIT Madras engineers and based in Bengaluru, launched the 190 kg Mission Drishti on 3 May 2026 on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
- The ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme was approved on 1 July 2025, with DST as nodal department and ANRF holding the Special Purpose Fund, and TDB and BIRAC act as second level fund managers.
