GalaxEye, a Bengaluru spacetech startup that builds Earth observation satellites, said on August 10, 2026 that it had acquired StarOps, a spacecraft engineering company based in the same city. Neither company disclosed the price or other financial terms.
GalaxEye said the purchase is meant to move more of its satellite engineering work in-house. StarOps brings satellite bus platforms in the 50 kg, 150 kg and 250 kg classes that have already been through qualification, along with its own subsystem technology, testing infrastructure and engineering tools.
The StarOps team joins GalaxEye. The companies did not say how many people are moving across or whether StarOps will continue to operate under its own name. StarOps co-founder Nirmal Suraj Gadde, who held the title of missions lead, was quoted in the announcement as part of the combined effort.
What StarOps built
StarOps was founded in 2022 with the aim of designing satellite platforms and developing core spacecraft technology in India rather than importing it. A satellite bus is the base platform of a spacecraft: the structure, power, thermal, attitude control and communication systems that carry and support the payload, such as a camera or radar.
According to the companies, StarOps has reached more than 66% indigenisation across its satellite systems, meaning most of the content is designed or sourced locally. Inc42 reported that the company presents this as a way to depend less on global supply chains, shorten development cycles and cut the cost of missions.
Several StarOps engineers previously worked at TeamIndus, where they worked on the company's lunar lander and rover. StarOps did not disclose its headcount, revenue or any outside funding.
“From day one, our vision has been to build a company that develops and owns the technologies defining the future of space. This acquisition is an important milestone in that journey, and through StarOps, the in-depth engineering legacy continues.”
Why GalaxEye is buying
GalaxEye was founded in 2021 and incubated at IIT Madras. Its founders are chief executive Suyash Singh, Denil Chawda, Kishan Thakkar, Pranit Mehta and Rakshit Bhatt. The company's main technology, which it calls OptoSAR, combines synthetic aperture radar with optical imaging on a single satellite. The pairing lets a satellite capture images through cloud cover and in darkness, and GalaxEye sells the resulting data for defence, agriculture, infrastructure and disaster management.
Until now GalaxEye has focused on the sensor payload and the data. Owning a bus design and a test setup gives it control over the rest of the spacecraft. The company said it plans to launch two new OptoSAR satellites within the next 24 months and wants to keep more engineering under its own roof to improve quality and reliability.
Singh described the deal as a step toward a company that designs, builds and operates its own space systems from India and sells to customers worldwide. Entrepreneur India reported that GalaxEye intends to build a constellation of OptoSAR satellites.
The setback with Drishti
The acquisition follows a difficult first mission. GalaxEye launched its first satellite, Mission Drishti, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg, California, in early May 2026. Entrepreneur India described the 190 kg spacecraft as the largest privately built Earth observation satellite from India at the time.
Months after launch, GalaxEye lost contact with Drishti following an anomaly that it linked to a geomagnetic solar storm, Inc42 reported. The company said that even so, the mission had produced engineering lessons it would apply to future satellites. Bringing in a team with its own qualified bus platforms and test facilities is one way to reduce the risks on the next launches.
Funding and the Indian space market
GalaxEye raised a $10 million Series A round in 2024, according to Space Insider. Investors in that round included MountTech Growth Fund – Kavachh, Infosys, Speciale Invest, Mela Ventures, drone maker ideaForge and Samarthya Investment Advisors. GalaxEye did not say how it paid for StarOps.
India's private space sector has been busy in 2026. Inc42 noted that Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket completed Mission Aagaman, making it the first private Indian company to put a rocket into orbit, and that Skyroot was reported to be planning a $200 million raise at a $2 billion valuation. Agnikul Cosmos brought former ISRO chairman S. Somanath onto its board as an observer before its second mission. GalaxEye's purchase of StarOps is a small example of consolidation in that market, as younger companies buy the hardware skills they need rather than build them from scratch.
