New Delhi: GalaxEye, an Indian New Space startup incubated by IIT Madras is launching its Drishti satellite in 2026, with innovative technology that fuses electro-optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) observations, which will be the first of its kind. Drishti will be the first satellite in a constellation, with applications in border surveillance, utilities and infrastructure monitoring, agriculture and insurance assessment. Conventionally, satellites relay the raw observations to the ground where they are processed. Drishti will be able to run advanced AI workloads directly in orbit using Nvidia’s Jetson Orin embedded AI computing module, accelerating how Earth observation data is processed, interpreted and delivered to customers.
Optical payloads are great for high-resolution visual imagery, but cannot peer to clouds and foliage. SAR provides all-weather, day-night imagery, but not of very high resolution. GalaxEye’s SyncFused OptoSAR tech reduces this historical trade-off, while providing near-realtime processing directly in orbit. Mission Drishti will also explore the feasibility of orbital data centres, where multiple satellites operate as interconnected compute nodes. GalaxEye plans to use Nvidia Nemotron open models and Nvidia Cosmos world foundation models for development. The announcement aligns with the broader momentum under the India AI Impact Summit 2026, hosted by the IndiaAI mission.
Actionable intelligence from orbit
CEO of GalaxEye, Suyash Singh said, “Taking NVIDIA Jetson Orin to space aboard Mission Drishti is a defining milestone for GalaxEye. Building on our successful in-space demonstration in 2024, we’re advancing to a next-generation of Earth Observation satellites — using OptoSAR technology for advanced high resolution imaging and building Orbital Data Centers to generate and deliver intelligence from Orbit.” Director of EMEAI startups and venture capital at Nvidia, Tobias Halloran said, “India’s AI startup ecosystem is primed for acceleration, driven by exceptional technical talent and global ambition. Nvidia is accelerating this momentum by giving founders direct access to accelerated computing, scalable AI infrastructure, and programs like Nvidia Inception for startups and the Nvidia VC Alliance — helping startups scale faster and build for global markets.” NSIL has recently signed an agreement with GalaxEye to vend its OptoSar data products globally.