Indian space sector startup Azista BST Aerospace Pvt Ltd's first remote sensing satellite ABA First Runner (AFR) was successfully orbited by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
According to SpaceX, the rocket on a dedicated rideshare mission carried 72 spacecraft that includes CubeSats, MicroSats and others and one of them was the Ahmedabad-based Azista BST Aerospace's 80 kg satellite AFR.
Azista BST Aerospace is an Indo-German satellite manufacturing joint venture floated by India's Azista Industries Pvt. Ltd (holding 70 per cent stake) and Berlin Space Technologies GmbH (holding 30 per cent stake).
"Currently the company is funded by Azista Industries. We are not for venture capital funding. We have a long term outlook in business," Sunil Indurti, Director had told IANS.
The AFR will provide a panchromatic image with five metre resolution with a Swath of 70km.
According to Bharath Simha Reddy P., Business Development Manager, the company has potential customers -- in strategic and agriculture sectors -- for the data to be acquired from the first satellite and as well as analytics. Most of the customers are located in SouthEast Asia and other parts, including India.
"In the next two/three years, there will be three/four missions to demonstrate our satellite payloads," Bharath Simha Reddy had told IANS recently.
An engineering graduate from the famed College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai Indurti got into the space sector after founding and exiting an ice cream parlour chain in Hyderabad.
"My ambition during the college days was to build a national brand," Indurti said.
Soon after exiting the ice cream venture, Indurti met Srinivas Reddy Male, Managing Director and a Director with pharma company Hetero and both decided to get into satellite manufacturing.
"We initially started as a vendor for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and set up a factory in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. We have also set up weather stations for DRDO and others," Indurti said.
According to Bharath Simha Reddy, the company's target is to make about 100 satellites per year that would weigh between 50-200 kg.
'My name is the guarantee of security in the country', PM Modi says in Karnataka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his name is the guarantee of security in the country, adding it was his primary duty to protect the citizens of the nation.
9 held for gang rape of minors in Meghalaya
Nine persons were arrested by the police in connection with the rape of minor girls in the South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, officials said on Sunday.
Indian Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat with huge consignment of narcotics
In a major success, the Indian Coast Guard, following an overnight aerial-maritime joint operation with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on Sunday apprehended a Pakistan boat in the Arabian Sea, west of Gujarat's Porbandar, and seized a large haul of narcotics.
Decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken on next day of Independence, PM Modi says in K'taka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken the very next day after the country achieved Independence in 1947.
Rahul slams BJD-BJP in Odisha rally, says both in collusion to benefit few corporates
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stepping up the party’s campaign in Odisha on Sunday lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government and the opposition BJP while accusing them of having ‘married’ each other for personal gains and befooling the public.
PM Modi has already scored a century in first two phases of LS polls: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already scored a century of seats in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls.
Govt extends shutdown of schools in Tripura till May 1, heat wave alert extends
In view of the intense heat wave, the Tripura government has announced an extension of shutdown of all government aided schools and privately managed schools till May 1 next.
Despite having a woman CM, females in West Bengal most unsafe: JP Nadda
BJP national president J. P. Nadda on Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying that despite having a woman chief minister, females in the state are most unsafe.