Context: Mission Drishti, the world’s first OptoSAR satellite developed by Bengaluru based space startup GalaxEye has been successfully launched on May 3, 2026 aboard a Falcon 9 by SpaceX from Vandenberg, California.
Mission Drishti:
- It is the world’s first multi-sensor Earth observation (EO) satellite.
- It is India’s largest privately built satellite and also the highest-resolution satellite developed in the country.
- It is planned by Bengaluru based space startup – GalaxEye.
Key Features Mission Drishti:
- It is the world’s first OptoSAR satellite, combining electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single platform.
- While EO sensors capture high-resolution images in daylight and clear skies, SAR enables imaging in all weather conditions and at any time using radar pulses.
- It is engineered as a remote-sensing Earth observation system, optimised for spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions to capture high-precision imagery.
- The satellite weighs 190 kg and offers 1.5 metre resolution.
- Mission Drishti is a dual-use Earth observation Satellite, supporting use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning. The satellite is expected to complement India’s broader initiatives, including the active 29 Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO’s recent annual report.