Dhruva Space Private Limited is an Indian

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

aerospace manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology indust ...

headquartered in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Founded in 2012 by Sanjay Srikanth Nekkanti, the company is engaged in the development of small

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

s in the commercial, governmental and academic markets. It provides full-stack space-engineering solutions across launch, space and ground segments. The founding team is composed of business and technology leaders who were formerly working with Exseed Space (now called Satellize), ams AG,

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

and

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

and all of whom are alumni of institutes such as BITS Pilani,

SRM Institute of Science and Technology SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), formerly SRM University, is a private higher education institute deemed to be university, located in Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu (near Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1985 as SRM Eng ...

, EMLYON Business School,

Luleå University of Technology Luleå University of Technology is a Public Research University in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The university has four campuses located in the Arctic Region in the cities of Luleå, Kiruna, Skellefteå, and Piteå. With more than 19,000 stude ...

and Arizona State University.

History

In 2014, Dhruva Space signed a deal with

AMSAT AMSAT is a name for amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) with headquarters at Washington, D.C. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then opera ...

India to develop HAMSAT-II. In December 2019, Dhruva Space raised ₹5 crore in funding led by Mumbai Angels Network. On 20 November 2020, Dhruva Space entered into an MoU with

Skyroot Aerospace Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited is an Indian private aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider headquartered in Hyderabad. The company was founded by former engineers and scientists from ISRO. It aims to develop and launch ...

, an Indian private satellite launch services provider. In May 2020, Dhruva Space entered into an MoU with Florida-based Sidus Space, to collaborate and catalyse the design, development, and commercialisation of new innovative space technologies and services. In September 2020, Dhruva Space became the first Indian private company to secure an order for end-to-end design and development of space-grade

solar arrays A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and c ...

for satellites. In October 2021, Dhruva Space raised ₹22 crore in funding led by Indian Angel Network (IAN) Fund and Blue Ashva Capital. On 16 March 2022, Dhruva Space signed a commercial launch services agreement ( LSA) with

NewSpace India Limited NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of Government of India and commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was established on 6 March 2019 under the administrative control of Department of Spa ...

for an in-orbit test of its Dhruva Space Orbit Deployers. These are likely to be used on board the

PSLV The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

and the

SSLV The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is a small-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO with payload capacity to deliver to low Earth orbit () or to Sun-synchronous orbit () for launching small satellites, with the capability to support ...

. On 10 June 2022 at the inauguration of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) in Ahmedabad,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, Dhruva Space signed an MoU with IN-SPACe for the enablement of space activities, namely the testing and launch of satellites and satellite components. The MoU also dives into two more aspects of this integral partnership: the testing of the startup's own satellite deployers on the PSLV C53 Mission in June 2022, and the launch of its own two satellites – Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2 – as a part of the PSLV C54 mission. On 24 June, Dhruva Space and Digantra Aerospace were announced as the first two private companies to receive authorisation from IN-SPACe for space activities. On 30 June, Dhruva Space's Satellite Orbital Deployer was successfully tested and space-qualified (known as DSOD-1U Mission) in Indian Space Research Organisation's

C53 mission. The launch took place at 18:02 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. Recognition of the mission success came from dignitaries including Prime Minister of India

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

, Minister of Commerce and Industry

Piyush Goyal Piyush Vedprakash Goyal (born 13 June 1964) is a politician, chartered accountant and cabinet minister of the Government of India having portfolios such as Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affa ...

, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and IT Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao. On November 26, Dhruva Space launched two amateur radio communication nanosatellites as part of ISRO's PSLV C54 mission. The launch of Dhruva Space's Thybolt Mission took place at 11:56am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota,

. The mission observed support from dignitaries including Prime Minister of India

, Minister for Road Transport & Highways

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways cu ...

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

and Development of North Eastern Region of India G Kishan Reddy, and Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and IT Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao.

Accolades

In October 2020, Dhruva Space was recognised with a National Startup Award by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

for its efforts in Satellite and Space Technology. In March 2022, Dhruva Space was named 'Best Spacetech Startup' by '' Entrepreneur India'' magazine, BusinessEx.com and Gupshup for the Startup 2022 Awards. On March 17, 2022, Dhruva Space won the Qualcomm Design for India Challenge 2021 for their Bolt module, a switchable connectivity device that enables uninterrupted connection through cellular ( 5G) bands and satellite communication. The win includes a ₹65 lakh prize as well as patent-filing incentives, accelerator services, Government interactions, participation at industry events, dedicated engineering support and access to the Qualcomm Innovation Lab. In October 2022, the company exhibited Bolt at the India Mobile Congress 2022 at

Pragati Maidan Pragati Maidan is a venue for large exhibitions and conventions in the city of New Delhi, India. It has an area of nearly 150 acres (more than 625,000m2) of exhibition space, being among the biggest exhibition centers in India. It is owned, o ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, as part of Qualcomm India's 5G Startups Showcase. In April 2022, Dhruva Space's founders were featured in ''Fortune India'' magazine's

40 Under 40 ''Fortune'' magazine's 40 Under 40 is a list of individuals the publication considers to be the most influential young leaders for the year. The list has existed in two phases: First, from 1999 to 2003, the list was presented purely as a numeric ...

annual list. On 11 October 2022, Dhruva Space was named ‘Best Startup - Silver’ for the Telangana State Industry Awards 2022. The Award will be accoladed to the startup in December by Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology,

Government of Telangana The Government of Telangana also known as Telangana Government, is the governing authority of the state of Telangana in India. It consists of an executive, a judiciary and a legislative. The state government is headed by the Governor of Tela ...

References

External links

* {{Indian space programme Space programme of India Aerospace companies of India Indian private spaceflight companies Indian companies established in 2012 2012 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Companies based in Hyderabad, India