‘We were floored by their audacious…’: Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath praises Bengaluru startup’s Mission Drishti

Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath on Monday praised Bengaluru-based space startup GalaxEye Space after the successful launch of Mission Drishti, calling its technology ambition “audacious” and unprecedented.

“1 week ago, @GalaxEye’s Mission Drishti reached orbit, and we’re proud to have played a small part in their journey through Rainmatter,” Kamath wrote in a post on X. “When we first met them a few years ago, we were floored by their audacious goal.”

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Mission Drishti, launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on May 3, is billed as the world’s first commercial OptoSAR satellite. The satellite combines optical imaging and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging on a single platform.

Kamath said the technology would allow imaging through clouds and during night-time operations regardless of weather conditions. “They were building the world’s first commercial OptoSAR satellite — it would combine optical imaging and radar sensors into a single payload that could see through clouds and operate day or night, no matter the weather conditions. It had never been done before,” he said.

Mission Drishti weighs 190 kg and is India’s largest privately developed Earth observation satellite.

According to the company, the satellite captures optical and radar images of the same location simultaneously using a proprietary synchronisation technology stack. Traditional optical satellites often struggle during cloud cover or at night, especially in tropical regions.

The SAR system allows Drishti to penetrate cloud cover, while multispectral optical sensors provide visual clarity. The satellite also uses artificial intelligence to generate optical-like images from radar data when visibility conditions are poor.

GalaxEye said the technology could support border surveillance, defence operations, disaster response, agriculture, infrastructure planning and insurance assessment.

Kamath also reflected on the startup’s journey from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras to orbit. “Their journey from IIT Madras to the SpaceX launch on 3 May hasn’t been easy. It took 4 years and countless obstacles along the way. It is rocket science after all!” he said. “Huge congratulations to @thesuyashsingh and the entire team at GalaxEye. We need more Indian startups to build for the world like this.”