Gujarat startup’s TAPAS-1 is India’s first private thermal satellite
Ahmedabad-based spacetech startup SatLeo Labs has launched TAPAS-1, described as India’s first thermal infrared camera developed by a private company. The three-kg payload flew aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on October 1 as part of the Transporter-18 mission.
TAPAS-1 will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit about 500 km above Earth. Its long-wave infrared sensor will capture thermal infrared radiation from the surface, generating images that show variations in heat and temperature invisible to conventional optical cameras.
The data is expected to serve agriculture, urban heat management, water stress monitoring, industrial and disaster monitoring, forest-fire detection and climate studies. Thermal data can also be analysed with artificial intelligence for deeper insights.
SatLeo was founded in Ahmedabad in 2023 by Shravan Singh, former ISRO scientist Dr Ranendu Ghosh and Urmil Bakhai. The company plans to launch eight more satellites of the same category by 2029, building a constellation of 10 to 15 thermal-imaging satellites, with TAPAS-2 targeted for mid-2027.
Khabar 24h Editorial Desk — our explainers are prepared by the Khabar 24h editorial team using AI-assisted research tools, and every piece is reviewed by a human editor before publishing. We do not claim original reporting: our work is turning complex topics into simple, accurate summaries. Spotted an error? Write to contact@khabar24h.com — our corrections policy aims for same-day review.
More from this author →
Leave a Reply