Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space satellites to be launched on Saturday

After pharma, defence, aerospace, IT and other sectors, Hyderabad is now becoming hub for satellites eco system too.

Hyderabad: After pharma, defence, aerospace, IT and other sectors, Hyderabad is now becoming hub for satellites eco system too.

With city-based Skyroot successfully launching its Vikram-S rocket launch, it is the turn of another Hyderabad-based space tech startup Dhruva Space, which will launch its Thybolt 1 and Thybolt 2 satellites on Saturday.

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These satellites are completely manufactured in Hyderabad. Over 20 MSMEs have supported us on the manufacturing side, Dhruva Space CEO Sanjay Nekkanti told moneycontrol.com.

“These vendors are highly skilled and they already have the tools and machinery in question. So, we are leveraging this ecosystem to build in India, build from Hyderabad, for the world market” Nekkanti said in an interview to moneycontrol.com. Through the launch of the satellites, the company in a way is giving back to the amateur radio ecosystem. Thybolt satellites would carry payloads related to radio operations, he said.

The Thybolt 1 and 2 satellites will benefit a large number of amateur radio operators worldwide. Through these satellites, amateur radio operators can uplink a small dataset, which will be stored on the satellite and which can then be relayed back, he explained, stating that it is called as ‘store and forward.’

Many amateur radio clubs in India have supported Dhruva Space’s mission, especially in the testing and qualification of these satellites. “All our co-founders are also amateur radio operators. In a way, it is our way of giving back to the community,” Nekkanti said.

Unlike others, Dhruva only manufacturers satellite infrastructure and not payloads. On the future plans, Nekkanti shared that based on the Thybolt mission on Saturday, the company aims at launching full-fledged commercial operations in the future.

“We already have two customers who have expressed interest to utilise the P DoT platform for various other applications. We will be fulfilling their requirement, and these missions may happen before June 2023,” Nekkanti said.