Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space enters strategic partnership with French Sodern ArianeGroup

Dhruva Space has partnered with France-based Sodern ArianeGroup to deploy the HORUS star tracker on a 2026 mission. The collaboration will use Dhruva’s modular nanosatellite platform and marks a significant Indo-French advancement in satellite-based attitude determination technology.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space, a full-stack Space Engineering solutions provider in India, on Thursday announced strategic partnership with France-based Sodern ArianeGroup, a global leader in optical and inertial instrumentation for Space and Defence sectors.

As part of the strategic collaboration, under Dhruva Space’s flagship Launching Expeditions for Aspiring Payloads (LEAP) initiative, Sodern will deploy its next-generation HORUS star tracker on a Dhruva Space-hosted payload mission scheduled for launch in 2026.

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The HORUS payload will be integrated onto Dhruva Space’s indigenously-developed P-30 nanosatellite platform, featuring a modular bus architecture. The satellite structure and mission-critical subsystems, including avionics, power systems, and ADCS interfaces, were Space-qualified through the LEAP-TD mission aboard ISRO’s PSLV-C58 POEM-3 launch in 2024, a statement from Dhruva Space said.

Sodern’s HORUS payload features an advanced APS (Active Pixel Sensor) Space Detector tailored for telecom platforms, providing autonomous and high-precision attitude sensing capabilities. In parallel, Dhruva Space has selected Sodern’s radiation-hardened Auriga™ star tracker as its preferred attitude determination solution for a suite of upcoming satellite missions.

Vincent Dedieu, Chairman & CEO, Sodern ArianeGroup comments on the partnership, ” This contract signing fits perfectly within the strategic relationship between India and France and proves the importance of space collaboration between our countries. Dhruva Space was selected as the ideal partner to launch our high-end HORUS star tracker on its inaugural IOD smallsat mission, and we are eager to see HORUS in action.”

Dedieu continues, “We are also proud that our Auriga™ star tracker meets Dhruva Space’s expectations and has been selected for future Indian satellites and mission. We would like to thank Dhruva Space sincerely for their confidence.”

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Nekkanti, CEO & Co-founder, Dhruva Space, adds, “The Indo-French partnership in Space has always been one of mutual respect, technical excellence, and long-term vision, and one I have been inspired by since before beginning my career in Space-Tech. By combining Dhruva Space’s modular satellite architecture with Sodern’s flight-proven attitude determination systems, we’re
enabling faster, more reliable mission deployment for customers and advancing in-orbit innovation
at scale.”