Just two weeks after satellite imaging startup Pixxel joined hands with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for launching its satellite, it received another good news.

Recently, Indian space agency ISRO announced that Pixxel’s first satellite ‘Anand’ will be launched in its PSLV-C51 (polar satellite launch vehicle) mission in early 2021.

Announcing via Twitter, the space agency tweeted that the upcoming PSLV mission is special as it will be launching Anand from its Firefly fleet of earth observation satellites.

SpaceTech India

On December 17 Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched communication satellite ‘CMS-01’ onboard PSLV-C50 from Sriharikota.

And Post-launch, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said,

“The next mission PSLV-C51 is special for us. It is special for the entire country. The government of India has initiated (reforms) and within eight months, the first satellite ‘ANAND’ from a startup called Pixel India, is going to be launched.”

Founded by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal in 2019, Pixxel is a space technology company working towards creating India’s first constellation of microsatellites in the LEO (Low Earth orbit), and more.

Talking about the launch, Awais Ahmed, Co-founder of Pixxel, said,

“Anand is the first satellite in a series of satellites that Pixxel plans to build and will launch on the PSLV-C51 in Feb 2021. The data from Pixxel’s satellite will be used to solve some of humanity’s most pressing problems today such as flagging pest infestations and crop diseases in time, detecting forest fires early, tackling air and water pollution levels, detecting oil spills and gas leaks and mapping large scale geological changes among other things.”

Dr Sivan is very positive about the private players in this segment, and according to Dr Sivan, PSLV-C51 mission will be the first of its kind in the country and will also initiate a new era of space reforms in India.

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