GalaxEye acquires StarOps to strengthen satellite engineering after Drishti setback
The acquisition brings expertise spanning spacecraft systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, flight computing, guidance and navigation, structures, electrical systems and ground operations under GalaxEye.
Bengaluru-based spacetech startup GalaxEye has acquired spacecraft engineering company StarOps to strengthen its in-house capabilities in satellite development, systems engineering and mission operations, according to The Economic Times.
The acquisition comes about a month after GalaxEye lost contact with Mission Drishti, its maiden Earth-observation satellite, following an anomaly during the satellite’s early-orbit phase that the company attributed to a geomagnetic solar storm. GalaxEye had earlier said that the chances of recovering the spacecraft were low.
Launched on May 3, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission, Drishti was designed as the world’s first OptoSAR satellite, combining Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with optical imaging on a single spacecraft. The 190-kg satellite was also described by the government as India’s largest privately built satellite at the time of launch.
Despite the eventual loss of communication, GalaxEye said Drishti completed a substantial portion of its Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and successfully validated several critical systems, including spacecraft deployment, attitude control, onboard computing, communications and mission operations.
StarOps traces its origins to TeamIndus, the Indian spacetech company that participated in the Google Lunar XPRIZE. Several members of StarOps’ engineering team previously worked on TeamIndus’ lunar lander and rover programmes.
The acquisition brings expertise spanning spacecraft systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, flight computing, guidance and navigation, structures, electrical systems and ground operations under GalaxEye.
For GalaxEye, bringing these capabilities in-house is expected to provide greater control over spacecraft design and development while reducing reliance on external engineering partners.
The startup has said it intends to incorporate lessons from the Drishti mission into its next-generation spacecraft and accelerate its satellite development programme. It is also planning to launch two additional OptoSAR satellites over the next 24 months.
GalaxEye, founded in 2021, is developing OptoSAR technology that combines optical and radar sensing to enable Earth observation during both day and night and under cloudy or otherwise challenging weather conditions. The approach is aimed at applications including agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure monitoring and strategic observation.