Digantara commissions world's first commercial space surveillance satellite

NEW DELHI: The world's first commercial space surveillance satellite, capable of tracking objects as small as 5 centimetres orbiting the Earth, was commissioned on Saturday as it captured images over South America, the Bengaluru-based start-up Digantara said.

Digantara had launched the space surveillance satellite SCOT (Space Camera for Object Tracking) on January 14 aboard SpaceX's Transporter-12 rocket.

The satellite started operations on Saturday.

"Space just ran out of hiding spots," the start-up said in a post on X.

In a statement, the company said the SCOT satellite achieved first light on Saturday and its inaugural image while passing over South America -- a breathtaking view of Earth's limb, with the city of Buenos Aires glowing against the planet's curvature.

"SCOT's first image is more than a technical milestone; it's a symbol of our team's resilience and unwavering commitment to safeguarding Earth's orbits for generations to come," said Digantara CEO Anirudh Sharma.

The satellite is designed to track and monitor objects as small as 5 centimetres, with a high revisit rate for frequent and precise observations of orbital activity.

As space becomes increasingly congested, this capability is essential for mitigating collision risks and promoting sustainable space operations by providing accurate and dependable data to satellite operators and regulatory bodies.

SCOT has been deployed in a sun-synchronous orbit that allows it to track objects in Low Earth Orbit with more efficiency than existing sensors, which are restricted by fields of view, weather conditions and geographic limitations.