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What’s new: An Indian company to establish a LEO PNT constellation and service.
Why it’s important:
- Developing the constellation could be a boost for India’s economy by greatly increasing its tech sector.
- Depending upon the degree of control and influence the government has on the company, this could give India a sovereign source of space-based PNT.
- The number of satellites and debris in LEO is growing incredibly.
What else to know: India had been talking about expanding its regional MEO PNT system, NAVIC, to make it global. We are not sure how those plans might be impacted by this announcement. LEO is certainly a lot less expensive.
Chennai-based space startup aims to create India’s first private GPS network
The startup aims to offer positioning with centimeter-level accuracy and timing at a nanosecond resolution. It will utilise LEO satellites to provide signals that are resistant to spoofing and jamming.
New Delhi:
A Chennai-based startup, VyomIC, announced on Tuesday that it plans to build India’s first private global satellite constellation to provide high-precision positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. Founded by alumni of IIT-Madras, the startup has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding as the first step toward launching low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites for these services. The funding round was led by Speciale Invest, with participation from BYT Capital and DeVC.
