Astrome, Azista, Dhruva Space to Build Small Satellite Bus for India

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has announced three winners for its satellite bus hosting scheme. The selection followed an Announcement of Opportunity issued in April 2025 and a multi-stage evaluation of 15 proposals received by July 2025.

IN-SPACe has said it will fund and support companies in developing and demonstrating indigenous small satellite bus platforms. 

The winners, Astrome Technologies, Azista Industries, and Dhruva Space, will receive a grant of ₹5 crore to develop and demonstrate this Satellite Bus as a Service (SBaaS). 

The platforms will support multiple hosted payloads for domestic and international customers. Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe, said the initiative supports India’s small satellite manufacturing plans.

“The SBaaS initiative marks an important step in building a robust, sustainable, and globally competitive small satellite manufacturing ecosystem in India,” Goenka said, while adding that by enabling indigenous satellite bus platforms, the government is laying the foundation for end-to-end small satellite manufacturing and services.

IN-SPACe will release grants linked to milestones set under the scheme. It will also provide access to ISRO and Department of Space infrastructure and testing facilities. The support will include technical expertise when required.

Rajeev Jyoti, Director of the Technical Directorate at IN-SPACe, said the programme will help payload developers. He said the platforms aim to reduce entry barriers for payload developers and strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity. 

IN-SPACe also aims to expand India’s role in the hosted payload services market.

In later phases, IN-SPACe said that it plans to enable hosted payload missions on the new satellite bus platforms. The centre said this will expand public-private partnership programmes for operational missions.

The centre said the selection aligns with its broader private-sector capacity-building efforts. It recently also signed a concession agreement with Pixxel Space India and Allied Orbits for an Earth observation constellation.