Tata co launches India’s 1st privately-built sub-metre resolution surveillance satellite

NEW DELHI: Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons that specializes in aerospace and defense solutions, in collaboration with Satellogic, a leading provider of high-resolution satellite imagery in the world, announced on Monday the successful launch and deployment in low-earth orbit of India’s first private sector-built sub-metre resolution earth observation or surveillance satellite, TSAT-1A.The satellite was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on April 7.
TSAT-1A, assembled at TASL’s Vemagal facility in Karnataka, will deliver high-resolution optical satellite images with increased collection capacity and low-latency delivery through its multispectral and hyperspectral capabilities. The Indian armed forces are expected to be one of its major customers in the near future.
CEO and MD of TASL, Sukaran Singh told TOI, “In the government sector, Isro has launched various high-resolution earth observation satellites, but this is the first sub-metre high-resolution earth observation satellite by the private sector in India. It has around 0.5-0.8-meter resolution natively, which will be enhanced to 0.5 to 0.6-meter super resolution using software. It is in low-earth orbit and weighs less than 50 kg.”
“This milestone demonstrates TASL’s commitment to the space sector. This is a first step. Our partnership with Satellogic has enabled us to deliver an assembled and tested, best-in-class, sub-metre optical satellite in India. We are grateful for the support we have received from various Indian government authorities for the required permissions,” he added.
Regarding customers using satellite data, the TASL CEO clarified, “Our primary consumers will mainly be the government. I mean forces. We will also target commercial customers.”

TSAT-1A satellite
Explaining the significance of the orbit where TSAT-1A was launched, Singh said, “We have launched the satellite in an inclined orbit compared to the Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO). Given India’s areas of interest, an inclined orbit allows for more frequent time-dispersed revisits to areas of interest than the SSPO of a certain kind.” He added, “TASL will be delighted to use the launch service of Isro in the future.”
Regarding various space facilities being set up by TASL, Singh said, “Tata is focusing on four areas: assembly, integration, and testing of the satellite and launching it from either SpaceX or Isro; data download; processing raw data and adding layers of AI; and satellite control centre. We have worked on one area and are now working on the others, as this is the demand of the space industry.”
Emiliano Kargieman, CEO at Satellogic, congratulated both teams on “the efficient collaboration that brought TSAT-1A to life and ready for launch. “This illustrates the flexibility of Satellogic’s Space Systems program, offering governments and enterprises the ability to tailor a proven satellite model for their specific needs and reach orbit within a favourable time frame,” Kargieman said.