Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and NASDAQ-listed Satellogic Inc have signed a strategic contract to build low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in India, the companies said on Wednesday, adding that TASL will commission a satellite plant in Karnataka.
TASL would establish an Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AIT) facility for satellites in India and co-develop a satellite design with Satellogic, a leader in sub-metre resolution earth observation (EO) data collection, a joint press release by the companies said.
The TASL satellite AIT plant will be built at its Vemagal facility in Karnataka, and its main focus will be on manufacturing satellites and developing imagery in India for national defence and commercial applications, the release added.
TASL and Satellogic to Create Multi-Payload Satellite for Diverse Data
TASL and Satellogic will collaborate on the development of a new satellite design, which will integrate multiple payloads on a single satellite helping generate a diverse range of data, it said.
"This collaboration is the first step in TASL's satellite strategy and a significant milestone for Satellogic as it enters the fast-growing Indian defence and commercial market," the joint statement said.
The project will start with comprehensive training, knowledge transfer, and local assembly of optical sub-metre resolution EO satellites, the first of which is planned to be launched as TSAT-1A, the statement said.
TASL CEO and MD Sukaran Singh the companu would work with local SMEs for payloads and other technologies.
"We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Satellogic, a company with best-in-class technology and an entrepreneurial mindset," Singh said.
"One of our core values is accessibility. This collaboration will accelerate space capacity building for one of the largest nations in the world with the goal of enabling the advancement of commercial space capabilities and greater access to critical information for a range of applications such as security, sustainability, and energy," said Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Satellogic Emiliano Kargieman
