The Bengaluru-based satellite startup Pixxel is ready to launch its third hyperspectral satellite. The earth imaging satellite ‘Anand’ (meaning happiness) will be launched into space on November 26 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
In April, Pixxel became the first Indian business to send a commercial satellite into space using a Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Instead of assigning each pixel the fundamental colours red, green, and blue, hyperspectral imaging analyses a broad spectrum of light. The light striking each pixel is subdivided into multiple spectral bands to collect additional data.
Anand is a hyperspectral microsatellite that weighs less than 15 kilogrammes and has more than 150 wavelengths, allowing it to record Earth in significantly more detail than non-hyperspectral satellite systems with fewer than ten wavelengths.
Indian Startup Pixxel CEO Awais Ahamed:
“After more than 18 months of delay, many many retests, and more than 2 years of sweat and hard work by the team, we are finally launching this week! Look forward to having our third satellite (but the first one we ever built) in space very soon!”