Gandhinagar, Sep 30 : An Ahmedabad-based spacetech startup’s thermal infrared camera, designed to capture heat patterns on Earth that conventional satellite cameras cannot detect, is set to be launched into space aboard SpaceX’s 'Falcon 9' rocket from the United States on October 1.
Developed by Satleo, TAPAS-1 is described by the company as India’s first thermal infrared camera developed by a private company.
Weighing three kg, the payload will be deployed on a satellite in an orbit about 500 km above Earth and will capture thermal infrared radiation from the surface to generate images showing variations in heat and temperature.
The data is expected to have applications in agriculture, urban heat management, water stress monitoring, industrial and disaster monitoring, forest-fire detection and climate-related studies.
The thermal data can also be analysed using artificial intelligence to provide more detailed information for different applications.
“This data can be used to monitor forest fires. Besides, temperature variations across different areas of a city can be tracked in real time. Different areas of a city have different temperatures. This can help municipal corporations undertake the necessary planning to address heat stress,” Satleo CEO Shravan Singh said.
Satleo was founded in Ahmedabad in 2023 by Singh, Dr Ranendu Ghosh and Urmil Bakhai. Singh has more than 16 years of experience in satellite-related innovations, while Ghosh worked with ISRO for 27 years on satellite payload technologies related to agriculture, hydrology and soil science.
Bakhai, the company’s Chief Strategy Officer, has more than 22 years of experience in corporate sales and leadership.
“This technology will function as a thermometer for the Earth. It can provide highly important data for the agricultural sector. Through this, planning required for crops can be undertaken in a more modern and accurate manner. It can also be useful in urban planning. Most importantly, there is no need to create any large-scale additional infrastructure for this purpose. This data will be available directly from the satellite,” Bakhai said.
TAPAS-1 has been developed entirely at Satleo’s laboratory in Gujarat and is expected to remain in orbit for three years. The company said it has a team of more than 40 professionals and plans to launch eight more satellites of the same type by 2029.
It has so far secured funding of Rs 60 crore. Following the commercial launch, the company plans to provide thermal imaging data to organisations across sectors.
Satleo had earlier undertaken a pilot project with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation involving temperature mapping across different parts of the city.
According to Singh, Satleo has also received Letters of Intent worth around USD 52 million, with about 60 per cent of the commitments coming from companies based outside India.
Organisations in agriculture and other sectors are also working with the company. The development comes amid Gujarat’s efforts to build a dedicated spacetech ecosystem.
Under its Gujarat Spacetech Policy 2025-30, the state government has announced incentives for startups and private investors, including assistance towards launch costs, support for intellectual property rights and subsidies for testing facilities.
The policy is aimed at developing Gujarat as a manufacturing and innovation hub for space technology.
The development of TAPAS-1 in the state also marks the entry of a Gujarat startup into specialised satellite hardware and thermal imaging technology.
Gujarat startup’s thermal infrared camera to launch aboard SpaceX’s 'Falcon 9' rocket on Oct 1
