GalaxEye Becomes First Indian Startup to Secure US Patent for Satellite Imaging Technology

Indian space-tech startup GalaxEye has announced that it has secured a US patent for the core technology behind its OptoSAR imaging system, becoming the first Indian startup to receive a US patent for satellite imaging technology.

The patent covers GalaxEye’s system architecture for aligning and synchronising optical and microwave sensors to enable simultaneous, spatially and temporally matched data acquisition. The same foundational technology has already been patented in India.

The US patent comes as GalaxEye prepares to scale its Earth-observation business, with plans to build a 30-satellite constellation over the next five years targeting defence, government and commercial applications across national security, agriculture, infrastructure, insurance, maritime intelligence and disaster management.

“This is not just a patent for us. This is an invention—an invention that came out of India,” Suyash Singh, Founder and CEO, GalaxEye, said.

“For decades, India has demonstrated that it can manufacture world-class technology. What is changing now is that India is beginning to invent technologies that the world has not seen before. GalaxEye leads that race in space. We are building global-first technology truly in India—not importing it, not adapting it, but inventing it here, engineering it here and taking it to the world.”

Singh said the US patent would help the company take its technology to international markets.

“This patented technology enables us to serve the global markets and provide weather agnostic imaging capabilities across sectors like defence, agriculture, insurance, disaster response and more,” he added.

GalaxEye’s patented technology addresses a fundamental challenge in Earth observation: combining optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery in a way that produces closely aligned observations.

Optical and SAR sensors operate using different physical principles and have traditionally been deployed independently or combined through post-processing. Even when imagery of the same location is available, it may have been captured at different times, from different viewing geometries or by different platforms, creating temporal gaps and spatial misalignment.

GalaxEye’s invention tackles this problem at the system and sensing architecture level, synchronising the optical and microwave sensors to capture data from the same location at the same time.

The approach forms the foundation of its OptoSAR technology, combining the visual and spectral information available through optical imaging with SAR’s ability to operate during both day and night and through adverse weather conditions.

Former ISRO Chairman Dr Somanath S Panicker described the patent as an example of the capabilities emerging from India’s private space sector.

“GalaxEye’s recently granted US patent for its technology behind OptoSAR is a powerful example of the innovation emerging from India’s private space ecosystem,” he said.

“Its uniqueness lies in synchronising optical and SAR sensors at the system level to deliver inherently aligned, spatially and temporally matched Earth observation data. This is not only a significant technical innovation but also has strong commercial potential across applications requiring richer, more actionable intelligence.”

GalaxEye has already taken the technology from development to space through its flagship Mission Drishti, launched on May 3, 2026.

The approximately 190-kg satellite combines multispectral imaging and SAR on a single spacecraft and was described by the company as the world’s first OptoSAR imaging satellite. At the time of launch, it was also India’s largest privately built Earth-observation satellite.

The mission demonstrated GalaxEye’s approach of bringing optical and radar sensing together on a single satellite platform, creating complementary observations from the same spacecraft.

The company is now looking to scale from its first satellite towards a larger constellation, supported by a growing commercial pipeline in India and overseas.

GalaxEye is also expanding its in-house engineering capabilities as it prepares for the next phase of its satellite programme.

The company is also expanding beyond satellite hardware into advanced imaging payloads, data processing and AI-driven intelligence.

The US patent, meanwhile, gives GalaxEye additional intellectual-property protection in one of the world’s largest technology markets as it seeks to commercialise its OptoSAR technology globally.

The broader ambition, according to Singh, is to establish India not merely as a manufacturing base for space technology, but as a source of technologies that can compete globally.

“Indian deep-tech companies can create globally differentiated, global-first technologies from India,” said Singh.