logo
India's Dhruva Space to launch Leap-1 satellite mission aboard SpaceX Falcon-9

India's Dhruva Space to launch Leap-1 satellite mission aboard SpaceX Falcon-9

India Today2 days ago
Dhruva Space, budding space tech startup from India, is set to launch its first commercial satellite mission, LEAP-1, marking a pivotal transition from technology demonstrations to customer-driven satellite deployments.The mission, scheduled aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 in Q3 2025, exemplifies significant Indo-Australian collaboration with growing US support, underlining Dhruva Space's expanding global commercial presence.LEAP-1 utilises Dhruva Space's indigenously developed P-30 satellite platform, successfully space-qualified during the LEAP-TD mission on ISRO's PSLV-C58 in January 2024.advertisement
The mission carries two distinct payloads: Akula Tech's Nexus-01, featuring an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) module, and Esper Satellites' OTR-2 mission, equipped with a cutting-edge hyperspectral imager. This payload fusion enhances capabilities across applications including defense, disaster response, agriculture, mining, and environmental monitoring.Akula Tech's AI module promises unprecedented on-orbit intelligence with onboard data processing and AI/ML model re-training capabilities for rapid, near-real-time insights. Nexus-01's AI flexibly supports applications such as fire detection and spectral analysis, continuously improving via live sensor data retraining. Meanwhile, Esper Satellites' hyperspectral imager delivers spectrally rich Earth observation data through their EarthTones API, setting a new standard in remote sensing technology.Dhruva Space complements the mission with Ground Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) and its proprietary Integrated Space Operations & Command Suite (ISOCS) for seamless real-time mission management and data downlinking.The mission patch symbolises the synergy of Indo-Australian-American collaboration, integrating motifs representing AI, hyperspectral Earth observation, and space heritage.Leadership from all partners highlight LEAP-1 as a landmark for innovation and cost-effective deployment in space.Dhruva Space's CEO Sanjay Nekkanti emphasised the mission's role in scaling commercial payload hosting and fostering international space business partnerships, notably between India and Australia.LEAP-1 represents a strategic milestone that positions Dhruva Space at the forefront of global commercial satellite operations, marrying indigenous Indian technology with international collaboration to serve diverse space applications worldwide.This endeavour firmly establishes Dhruva Space's commitment to pioneering full-stack hosted payload solutions with transformative impact on Earth and beyond.- EndsMust Watch
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Cricket Australia Considers Private Investment For Big Bash League, Maintains Commitment To Test Traditions
Cricket Australia Considers Private Investment For Big Bash League, Maintains Commitment To Test Traditions

India.com

timean hour ago

  • India.com

Cricket Australia Considers Private Investment For Big Bash League, Maintains Commitment To Test Traditions

In a significant development aimed at revamping its domestic T20 competition, Cricket Australia (CA) has revealed that it is actively exploring private investment options for the Big Bash League (BBL). The move is part of a broader strategic plan to elevate the BBL's global stature and competitiveness, positioning it just behind the Indian Premier League (IPL) in terms of talent, investment, and reach. BBL Set for Structural Evolution According to reports, CA has engaged with global consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to evaluate the potential of bringing in external equity partners. BCG's recommendations include offering alternative ownership models, expanding the league, increasing player salaries, and realigning the BBL calendar to attract higher-quality international talent. CA Chief Executive Officer Todd Greenberg confirmed that while no final decision has been made, the organization is committed to examining every option to ensure the long-term growth and financial health of the competition. 'We are unashamedly aiming to make the BBL the second-best T20 league in the world,' Greenberg said. 'This review is not reactive but proactive. If investment can help us deliver more value to fans, players, and the wider cricket community, we must explore it.' Balancing Innovation with Tradition Despite this progressive shift in the T20 format, CA has strongly reiterated its commitment to preserving the traditions of Test cricket, including iconic events like the Boxing Day Test at the MCG and the New Year's Test at the SCG. Greenberg emphasized that any strategic partnership or private equity involvement in the BBL would not impact the structure, scheduling, or heritage of the longer format. 'The traditions of Test cricket are sacred. We're not looking to compromise the essence of the game while modernizing parts of it,' he added. This stance has been welcomed by traditionalists and former players who feared commercialization could erode the purity of Test cricket. A Divided Debate The idea of privatizing BBL teams has sparked mixed reactions. Proponents argue that private investment could infuse much-needed capital, professional expertise, and marketing strength, similar to what transformed the IPL into a global cricketing juggernaut. Conversely, critics caution against relinquishing control to private owners, citing risks like loss of governance, deviation from cricket's grassroots ethos, and a shift toward prioritizing profit over player and fan interest. Former Australian cricketer and commentator Simon Katich expressed cautious optimism, stating that if managed transparently, private investment could help the BBL regain its lost shine and attract top-tier players.

Time for an ideological reset
Time for an ideological reset

Hindustan Times

time2 hours ago

  • Hindustan Times

Time for an ideological reset

NEW DELHI: This past week has seen a tectonic shift in Indo-US relations. Donald Trump first slapped a 25% tariff on Indian exports to the US and then topped it up with another 25% as a penalty for India buying Russian crude oil. While the first was shocking to a lot of people, the second is blatantly unfair. China buys more Russian crude than India, but Trump has not slapped any such penalty on China. As of now, tariffs on Indian exports to the US are 20 percentage points higher than on China's. Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped an additional 25% tariff on goods coming from India as penalty for New Delhi's continued buying of Russian oil. After the order, the total tariff on Indian goods, barring a small exemption list, will be 50% (PTI FILE) Where does this leave India and Indo-US relations? Are there larger lessons to be learnt? Answering this question requires an ideological clarity over and above merchandise trade. Here are three things which should matter. Enemy's enemy in cultural or superstructural wars is not your friend Shrill attacks on the American and the larger western woke ecosystem, have been an integral part of Trump's political rhetoric. Because this ecosystem has also been extremely critical of the BJP, Modi and the larger Hindutva framework, many on the Hindu right celebrated Trump's attacks on it. Many right wing influencers waxed eloquent on how Trump was good for India. What they did not understand then was that this did not necessarily mean a support from Trump for India's larger interests. These cheerleaders are having to eat crow today. Having said this, how best to position Indian politics vis-à-vis rising right-wing nativism in the advanced capitalist world – Trump is the most important and successful strain of this current – is a larger question to which there are no easy answers. But it is better to be unsure than be ecstatic and then be completely wrong. Foreign policy is driven by material realities, not personal equations Trump's abrasive stance against India is among the biggest foreign policy indictments of the Narendra Modi government. It is all the more damning because it does not look like the Indian government saw this coming. The biggest lesson to be learnt from this is simple. Foreign policy cannot be conducted on the basis of personal chemistry or friendships between leaders of two countries. It is hard material realities which shape their conduct. Trump is only messing with India because he can afford to do it without causing a major turmoil in the larger strategic and economic calculus of the US. This is also the reason why Trump is pussyfooting around China — the country with which the US has the biggest trade deficit and which is the biggest challenger to US's dominant status in the world. However, the same material realities also mean that India cannot reciprocate. Indian service sector companies, especially in the IT sector; the limited exemptions India still enjoys on exports to the US; and the remittances Indian Americans send back home, are still important interests which have to be preserved and for which there are no readily available substitutes in the world. Obviously, India must try to get these tariffs reversed. It is time to swallow hubris or overcome the shock and get to work. Russia can sell us cheaper crude and air defence systems, but it cannot compensate for the loss of an economic partnership with the US. There are no free lunches in the world There are many who believe that protecting India's strategic interests is as simple as joining one bandwagon or another. This choice was posed as Soviet Union versus US in the Cold War days and is often presented as Multilateralism (with Chinese characteristics) versus being an American satellite today. Neither of these choices is as simple and costless as it sounds. Placating Trump would have required opening up India's agriculture and dairy sectors to heavily subsidised American exports and buying significantly more expensive military hardware from American companies. Aligning firmly with China, on the other hand, would have entailed becoming a part of things such as One-Belt-One-Road initiative and signing off on a pre-ordained euthanasia of India's manufacturing prospects. This is one of the reasons India walked away from the RCEP trade agreement. Being the diverse, unequal and large economy that India is, there are a lot of influential players who would stand to gain from any of these overall sub-optimal choices. Even the muddled status quo – Trump's tariffs have ended it now – where India has been neither here nor there in the last couple of decades has created enough vested interests who have made significant gains while feeding off the natural economic momentum of the economy most of which comes from its 1.4 billion strong population. What is to be done? Patience is key. India must undertake a comprehensive appraisal of its strategic and economic abilities and decide on measures which can help it come to terms with what is likely to be the new global economic order: an increasingly protectionist and abrasive West and an even more dominant China in the manufacturing sector to the extent than it can cripple other countries' production lines in critical sectors. The illusion of some golden parachute of China+1 ensuring a smooth landing of India's economic transformation challenge should be dispensed with for good. This will not happen through some clichéd reforms to-do list which many economic commentators parrot. What it needs is a thorough overhaul of the contract between politics and capital which produces not inefficient national champions that draw their raison d'état from providing political finance but efficient ones that actually provide the much-needed edge to the country's geo-economic abilities. This will entail a major disruption in the status quo, but the only other option is outright humiliation and economic death by a thousand cuts.

Tata Steel rolls out first batch of galvanised coils from newly commissioned line at Kalinganagar
Tata Steel rolls out first batch of galvanised coils from newly commissioned line at Kalinganagar

Economic Times

time4 hours ago

  • Economic Times

Tata Steel rolls out first batch of galvanised coils from newly commissioned line at Kalinganagar

Tata Steel on Wednesday said it has rolled out the first batch of galvanised coils from a newly commissioned line at its Cold Rolling Mill complex in Odisha's Kalinganagar. The Continuous Galvanising Line-1 (CGL-1), equipped with "advanced features" such as a third-generation air-knife and oxidation chamber, is designed to produce high-quality coated steel, including Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) for the automotive and appliances sectors, the company said in a statement. "This facility is tailored to meet the stringent quality needs of our customers with superior surface finish, formability and corrosion resistance," said Prabhat Kumar, VP Marketing & Sales (Flat Products), Tata a total investment of Rs 27,000 crore, the Phase II expansion at Kalinganagar has augmented the total capacity at the site from 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 8 MTPA, it said. The CGL-1, part of the Cold Rolling Mill, is an integral part of the Phase II expansion alongside other facilities, including the Pellet Plant and Coke Plant, the statement said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store