Grahaa Space

Grahaa Space
(Akshath Aerospace Pvt. Ltd)

Company type	Private
Traded as	Akshath Aerospace Private Limited
Industry	Space Technology
Founded	29 September 2021;4 years ago (2021-09-29)
Founder	Ramesh Kumar Venkatesan Loganathan Muthusamy
Headquarters	Bengaluru, Karnataka , India
Key people	Ramesh Kumar Venkatesan (Founder, CEO) Loganathan Muthusamy (Ex-Co-founder, MD) Manimaran VS (Director) Palani Murugan (Ex-ISRO, Payload Director)
Products	Small Satellites Ground Stations Satellite Deployers
Services	Nanosatellite Development Payload Design Satellite Launch Ground Station Interplanetary Exploration
Number of employees	~20
Website	https://www.grahaa.space/

Grahaa Space is an Indian private spacetech startup (based in Bangalore) working on building an advanced constellation of earth observation nanosatellites to deliver near real-time geospatial video data from low earth orbit (LEO). The company's stated mission is to shift earth observation from periodic static imagery toward continuous, on-demand video streaming to support military & defense intelligence, disaster response, maritime and infrastructure monitoring, and other time-sensitive applications. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

The start-up was founded by a former ISRO scientist and an ex-IBM employee. It is currently preparing for its technology demonstration mission, "SOLARAS S2", ^[5] scheduled to launch by end of November 2025 from the Alcântara Space Center in Brazil aboard Innospace HANBIT-NANO launcher. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} The startup has scheduled a series of technology demonstration missions to qualify its communications module, test optical payloads to stream geospatial data, and to demonstrate intersatellite communications.

History

Early foundations (2011–2018)

The origins of Grahaa Space trace back to October 2011 when mission director Mr. Loganathan Muthusamy led a student team at SRM University in the development of SRMSat, one of India's early student-built satellites launched aboard ISRO's PSLV-C18 launch vehicle. ^{[10] [11] [12]} He subsequently oversaw planning for a proposed nanosatellite mission to the Moon by 2018, ^{[13] [14]} which, although later shelved, contributed to student training in mission design and simulation.

From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Loganathan served as Director of Space Programs at SRM University and NMIT, guiding several academic nanosatellite initiatives and conducting workshops in collaboration with ISRO. During this period, Ramesh Kumar V, who would later co-founded Grahaa Space, gained exposure to global technology markets and identified commercial opportunities in the small-satellite sector. ^{[15] [16]}

Formation and early development (2019–2020)

In 2019, the team had it's research extended to nanosatellite technologies, including experimental launch of a student-built payload launched on ISRO's PSLV-C44 mission in January 2019, which provided additional hands-on exposure to small-satellite platforms and mission operations. ^[17]

Throughout 2019, the team conducted multiple high-altitude balloon (HAB) experiments to test optical and NDVI-based Earth-observation payloads and engaged with academic groups such as Crescent University and VIT for payload validation. Grahaa showcased an early nanosatellite prototype at the India International Science Festival 2019, supported by India's Department of Science and Technology. ^{[18] [19]}

The company also participated in industry events including Spacetronics & Deftronics (IESA) ^[20] and delivered talks on commercial space trends, while continuing to build technical expertise through international training programs such as the UNOOSA–ISRO Small Satellite Mission Program hosted by UR Rao Satellite Centre and IIRS in December 2019. ^[21] By late 2019, Ramesh and Loganathan formally outlined the commercial roadmap for Grahaa Space, establishing the company's focus on real-time Earth-observation video services.

Missions and milestones

Mission RHUMI-1 launch from mobile launchpad near ECR, Chennai [Source: The Economic Times ]

RHUMI-1 (2024)

Team Grahaa with Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai (Ex-Director of UR Rao Satellite Centre), Dr. Anand Megalingam (CEO of Space Zone India), and Mr. Jose Charles Martin (Managing Director, Martin Group). Image Credit: Grahaa Space

After having multiple setbacks due to Covid, in 2024, Grahaa Space deployed two femtosatellites, AkSat and ViskanSat, aboard RHUMI-1, India's first reusable hybrid rocket developed by Chennai-based startup Space Zone India. Although RHUMI-1 was a suborbital mission, it supported broader ecosystem development efforts. Both payloads successfully collected altitude and environmental data during the flight ^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26]} .

SOLARAS S2 (2025)

SOLARAS S2 is the first and key milestone for Grahaa Space as the company intends to do the technology demonstration of their systems and sub-systems. The mission is scheduled to launch from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil aboard Innospace HANBIT-NANO launch vehicle by Innospace, South Korea ^{[27] [28] [29] [28] [30]} . The team is also strenuously working towards a series of SOLARAS technology demonstration missions to qualify the communications module, test the proprietary optical payload, and to demonstrate inter-satellite communications.

Team Grahaa Space with the SOLARAS S2 Nanosatellite Image Credit: Grahaa Space

SOLARAS S2 integrated on the Innospace HANBIT-NANO for the SPACEWARD mission. [Source: Innospace, South Korea ]

References

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