The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), announced the Satellite Bus as a Service (SBaaS) initiative through an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) in April 2025, inviting proposals from Indian Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) to develop indigenous small satellite bus platforms for hosted payload services.
A total of 15 Proposals were received up to July 2025, and following a rigorous, transparent, and multi-stage evaluation process, three selected NGEs are Astrome Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru; Azista Industries Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad; and Dhruva Space Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad.
Each selected company will receive a grant of ₹5 crore to support the development and demonstration of a robust, modular and scalable small satellite bus. The satellite buses developed under the SBaaS initiative will serve as a cost-effective platform to accommodate multiple hosted payloads, catering to both domestic and global market requirements IN-SPACe has signed contract agreements with the selected companies on 11 February 2026, marking the formal commencement of implementation under the scheme.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, stated: “The Satellite Bus as a Service initiative marks an important step in building a robust, sustainable, and globally competitive small satellite manufacturing ecosystem in India. By enabling indigenous satellite bus platforms and integrating them with India’s emerging small satellite launch capabilities, we are laying the foundation for India to become a preferred global destination for end-to-end small satellite manufacturing, launch, and hosted payload services.”
Shri Rajeev Jyoti, Director – Technical Directorate, IN-SPACe, said: “The SBaaS initiative is a key enabler for the development and manufacturing of indigenous small satellite bus platforms in India. By providing standardized and flight-proven satellite bus platforms for hosted payload missions, IN-SPACe aims to reduce entry barriers for payload developers while strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities and reinforcing India’s position in the rapidly growing global hosted payload services market.”
As per the AO guidelines, IN-SPACe will continue to support the selected companies through milestone-linked grant disbursement and by facilitating access to ISRO/DOS and IN-SPACe infrastructure, testing facilities, and technical expertise, as required. In subsequent phases, IN-SPACe plans to enable hosted payload missions on these satellite bus platforms, further expanding public–private partnership-led programmes that allow industry to scale from platform development to operational missions.
The announcement further strengthens IN-SPACe’s continuing efforts to enable private sector capability building in satellite platforms and hosted payload services. Recently, IN-SPACe had signed a concession agreement with the PixxelSpace India and, Allied Orbits Pvt Ltd (SPV formed by Pixxel-led consortium), for establishment of an Earth Observation constellation under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework. The partnership is aimed at advancing the development of indigenous Earth Observation capabilities through Indian industry and establishing a robust, commercial EO ecosystem.
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