Dhruva Space, a Hyderabad-based spacetech startup, plans to launch its first commercial mission, LEAP-1, in partnership with Australian firms Akula Tech and Esper Satellites in the third quarter of 2025.

The mission will fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and carry two payloads on Dhruva’s P-30 satellite platform.

These payloads are intended for applications in sectors such as defense, disaster response, agriculture, mining, and environmental management.

This will be Dhruva Space’s first hosted payload mission after it tested its P-30 satellite bus on ISRO’s PSLV-C58 POEM-3 mission in January 2024.

The company said its ground station-as-a-service and Integrated Space Operations and Command Suite will support real-time mission management and data downlinking.

Dhruva Space credited previous engagement with ISRO and the Australian Space Agency for facilitating this collaboration.

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🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Formal agreements are driving practical Australia-India space collaboration

Dhruva Space’s mission reflects the concrete results of formal partnership frameworks established between Australia and India.

In February 2024, the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) and SIA-India signed a Memorandum of Understanding specifically focused on enhancing collaboration in satellite technology and addressing space challenges 1.

This formal agreement aligns with the broader Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established in 2020, which enhanced cooperation across technology sectors including space 2.

The LEAP-1 mission demonstrates how these high-level agreements translate into actual commercial projects, with Australian companies Akula Tech and Esper Satellites working directly with an Indian startup on shared satellite infrastructure.

The partnership also builds on the Australian Space Agency’s engagement with Australian space startups in September 2022, which helped establish the foundation for these Indo-Australian business relationships.

2️⃣ Commercial space missions capitalize on massive market growth opportunity

The LEAP-1 mission positions both countries to capture value from the rapidly expanding global space economy.

The global space industry is valued between $570-630 billion and projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, with corporate investors now accounting for over half of total investment in spacetech startups 3.

Australia currently contributes only 0.8% to the global space economy despite representing 1.8% of the world economy, indicating significant untapped potential 4.

The mission’s focus on AI-powered earth observation and hyperspectral imaging addresses high-growth market segments, as demand for satellite connectivity and AI analytics are key drivers of the industry’s expansion.

This collaborative approach allows both countries to share development costs and risks while accessing each other’s technological capabilities, a strategy that becomes increasingly important as the space industry transitions toward commercial viability rather than government-led programs.

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