In this episode, we sit down with the founder of GalaxEye to explore one of the most audacious bets in Indian deep tech: building a satellite that can see through clouds. We go deep on the technology behind Optical SAR (OptiSAR) — a fusion of multi-spectral imaging and synthetic aperture radar — and why consistent, all-weather satellite imagery could be as transformative as GPS.
We cover:
- Why 70% of earth is always covered by clouds — and why that breaks most satellite imagery businesses
- What synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is, and how it lets you see through clouds, fog, and even forests
- The $0 → launch journey: 5 years of R&D, drone testing, and programme management
- How GalaxEye miniaturised its sensor stack and tested it on drones before going to space
- The real customers for satellite data (hint: it's not farmers — yet)
- What it's actually like to book a launch on SpaceX and ship a satellite from Bangalore to Florida
- India's space policy reforms and the rise of IN-SPACe
- The one metric India's space ecosystem isn't tracking — but should be
If you've ever been curious about what it takes to send something into orbit and build a business around it, this one's for you.
Timestamp:
0:00 Introduction
2:29 Why Would Anyone Start a Space Business?
4:02 The Origin Story
11:33 The Big Idea: Opto-SAR & Consistent Satellite Imagery
23:44 What You Can Unlock by Combining SAR + Optical
27:26 India's Space Policy Reform & The Rise of IN-SPACe
33:13 Building the Satellite: 5 Years from Idea to Orbit
46:50 Funding a Deep Tech Startup Before Revenue
52:13 How R&D Should Work in Indian Industry
47:06 The Real Challenges of Operating in Space
51:10 Booking a Launch with SpaceX
55:11 The Emotional Reality of Launch Day
1:06:44 Mapping India's Space Industry: Where We Stand
1:10:56 GalaxEye's Long-Term Vision