Pixxel, a spacetech startup, has successfully launched its first full-fledged commercial satellite, dubbed ‘Shakuntala,’ using SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket, which is run by Elon Musk.
‘Shakuntala,’ Pixxel’s first fully-fledged satellite, hosts one of the highest resolution hyperspectral commercial cameras ever flown to orbit, putting the company one step closer to developing a 24×7 health monitor for the globe, according to the company.
This launch, which took place on Friday on SpaceX’s Transporter-4 mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, gets the business closer to completing its ambitious aim of assembling one of the world’s most advanced constellations of low-earth-orbit imaging satellites.
“From being one of the very few finalists in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2017 to now launching our own satellites as part of SpaceX’s fourth dedicated rideshare mission, life has come full-circle for us,” said Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel.
Weighing less than 15 kg, Shakuntala (TD-2) is capable of capturing orbital images in more than 150 bands of colour from the visible and infrared spectrum with a resolution of 10-metres per pixel, far exceeding the specificity of 30-metre per pixel hyperspectral satellites launched by a few select organisations such NASA, ESA, and ISRO.
Shakuntala will begin collecting data and uncovering the invisible changes wreaking havoc on our planet, such as natural gas leakages, deforestation, melting ice caps, pollution, and declining crop health, just a few weeks after its launch.
Pixxel received $25 million in Series A funding from a number of investors, including Radical Ventures, Seraphim Space Capital, Relativity Space co-founder Jordan Noone, Lightspeed Partners, Blume Ventures, and Sparta LLC.
It paves the way for the launch of Pixxel’s first commercial phase satellites in early 2023.
Pixxel’s hyperspectral constellation will be able to cover any place on the world every 48 hours, thanks to six satellites in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) around a 550-kilometer altitude.
