ExseedSAT 1 will be launched on Nov 19 from SpaceX launchpad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

By | Published: 12:45 am 6:29 pm

Hyderabad: India’s first private satellite, built completely by individuals without support from agencies such as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will hurtle into space on November 19 bearing the stamp of Hyderabad on it.

As California-based SpaceX launches the largest single rideshare mission to date from a US-based launch vehicle, with the earlier one being India’s ISRO-driven PSLV-C37 with 104 spacecraft, it will mark a major step for space technology in India as well.

Among 70 spacecraft on that mission will be India’s first private satellite, completely built and sent into space by people and small firms from in and around Hyderabad under the aegis of startup Exseed Space. Founded by Kris Nair and Lamakaan co-founder Ashhar Farhan, Exseed makes advanced small satellites and scientific spacecraft for commercial, government and academic customers, and according to Nair, has the ultimate goal of ‘democratising space exploration’.

“Our first satellite, ExseedSAT 1, will be launched on November 19 from the SpaceX launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California,” Nair, Exseed CEO, told Telangana Today, adding that the mission would have spacecraft from over 35 different organisations, including 15 Microsats and 56 Cubesats. The mission includes payloads from 18 countries, including the US, Australia, Italy, Germany, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil and India, to mention a few, he said.

ExseedSAT 1, which is expected to provide a major boost to private radio operators after HAMSAT ceased operations about four years ago, was built with the contributions of several Ham operators and with the help small firms in and around Hyderabad, says Farhan, whose brainchild the satellite is.

“We spent almost two years working on it, with Exseed spending about Rs 2 crore, and it is the first such private satellite built without technological or financial support from government agencies like ISRO. Exseed has come up with all the technological components on its own,” Farhan said, adding that Exseed SAT 1 also proved that “we can build a satellite on our own”.

Exseed SAT 1, in layman’s terms, operates on very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) signals, and will take UHF signals up and transmit VHF signals back down, thus enabling easy communication for private radio operators.

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