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Why the earth observation satellite market is exploding

by | Nov 17, 2024 | Science


Sometime early next year, India’s space agency, ISRO, will launch the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite. It will be a prestigious event, marking the first collaboration between India and the US in hardware for earth observation. In terms of its technical heft and the high price tag — $1.5 billion — the NISAR mission is unique. 

The NISAR satellite, built jointly by India and the US, is quite a gizmo — its hyperspectral imaging capability can detect even tiny changes on earth’s surface. This can tell, for example, the health of bridges, levees, dams and aqueducts, and also enhance our understanding of phenomena like earthquakes and volcanoes, help spot new earthquake-prone areas, and so on. 

NISAR will be a crowning moment in a space-related activity that is taking the world by storm: earth observation. This is thanks mainly to advancements in satellite-based imaging technology, as well as a drop in launch costs. 

Bumped-up tech

Earth observation satellites are nothing new. For decades, weather and remote sensing satellites have been orbiting the earth, providing images. But, now, the technology has bumped up. 

“Every technology has its time,” says Awais Ahmed, Founder and CEO, Pixxel Space, an imaging startup that has three satellites in orbit, and plans to send up six more next year. In a chat with Quantum, Ahmed explains that in the 1990s, panchromatic imaging was the leading technology. The more advanced multispectral imaging came around 2010. “Today, there is a wave of hyperspectral imaging,” he says. The technique involves analysing a wide spectrum light (and infra-red), instead of merely assigning primary colors — red, green or blue — to each pixel. The light striking each pixel is broken down into various spectral bands to provide more information on the object imaged. More bands (or wavelengths) mean more use cases. 

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which can see through clouds or camouflage, has also gotten better. The startup GalaxEye has developed the world’s first multi-sensor imaging satellite, which has both optic and SAR sensors for improved imaging. 

Newer uses

“The combination of advancements in satellite technology, improved resolution capabilities and real-time data processing has empowered decision-makers to respond more effectively to dynamic scenarios,” says Krishanu Acharya, CEO and co-founder of Suhora, a startup that recently launched Spade, a platform that provides real-time satellite data from multiple sources to subscribers. 

Moreover, “integration of AI into geospatial analytics has unlocked new applications, driving interest across various industries for proactive and predictive insights,” Acharya says. 

The agriculture and defence sectors were the first to use satellite imaging technology, but now the demand is from all over. Satellite-aided precision agriculture is already happening, even if not on a large scale. Satellites can identify crop disease in a corner of a field, provide weather forecasts to accurately time water and fertilizer use, warn of approaching swarms of pests — as an ongoing project from the Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology has demonstrated. Satellites can also spot algal blooms that affect fisheries — recently, a Pixxel satellite spotted an algal bloom in a lake in Utah. 

But more use cases are emerging. A glass company is asking for images that show buildings under construction, to which it can sell glass. Godrej Agrovet and ITC are using GalaxEye’s images to track production in shrimp farms in Andhra Pradesh. Oil and gas companies want satellite images, as do mining companies. Pixxel Space already has 60 customers. 

Falling cost

Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner at Speciale Invest, a deep-tech venture capital firm that has invested in both a launch vehicle company (Agnikul Cosmos) and a satellite company (GalaxEye), says the cost of producing satellites, launching them and processing data has fallen over the past decade. This has led to increased availability and affordability of high-quality earth imagery, Rajaram says. 

Album from space

Optical imaging is done by cameras that capture reflected visible light or infra-red. Optical cameras on satellites capture reflected light from earth to create a picture, like the regular cameras we use. 

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems in satellites send radio frequency waves, which hit the ground and bounce back. The reflected waves are captured and an image is built. As such, SAR can see through cloud cover or camouflage.

With launch costs coming down — $6-8 million for a 150 kg satellite today — companies are building satellites with shorter lives (7-8 years compared with 15-20 years earlier), so they can replace old satellites with newer and better ones. More companies are also jumping into the fray. Applications for eight satellite launches are pending with the Indian space regulator, IN-SPACe, but companies have even bigger plans in store. Pixxel plans to send up 18 more satellites in 2026 and 2027. Nibe Space, set up in June 2024 (part of Pune-based defence and aerospace components manufacturer Nibe) intends to launch 40 satellites in the next six years. These will be 150-200 kg satellites with optical, IR and SAR sensors, Rishi Siwach, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Programmes, Nibe Space, says. Incidentally, Nibe’s technology partner is Thales of France, which wants to enter the Indian market through Nibe. 

Just the beginning

The earth observation satellite market is exploding. The consultancy NovaSpace said in July that the number of EO satellites would “almost triple”. It estimated that 5,401 EO satellites would be launched between 2024 and 2033, up 190 per cent from 1,864 in the last ten years. This means $131 billion in manufacturing revenues and $40 billion in launch revenues, it said. 

Rajaram believes this is just the beginning. With AI and technologies such as edge computing (where a part of the image processing happens onboard the satellite), costs would further drop. “As costs plummet and availability soars, we anticipate new and innovative use cases, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for industries and governments,” he says.





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Let this silk in 

by | Nov 17, 2024 | Science


Who would have imagined that silk, a status symbol for millennia that has lent its name to trade routes of yore, would find an application beyond luxury and fashion?

Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA, are suggesting that silk — of course, a certain ‘lab-made’ variety — can be used in microelectronics. 

Imagine strands of silk instead of copper wires carrying electric signals back and forth! 

Silk is made of proteins, like all animal fur, hair and wool. A special type of protein in it, called silk fibroin, has properties that can be tapped for electronics. Electronic components made with silk are biodegradable and can be used in wearable devices. 

While the potential use of silk in microelectronics has been known for some time, there were practical hurdles along the way — it was not possible to actually make the devices because the molecular structure of silk fibroin is disorderly. PNNL scientists cracked this by carefully embedding a layer of silk in an orderly manner on a sheet of graphene. 

To bring in a bit of science, in microelectronics the electric potential at the surface of a material matters. If you can gain control over this potential when designing devices like sensors and transistors, you are in business. 

PNNL research may pave the way for electronics to pass through its own silk route.





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All-seeing ‘Fireflies’ in outer space

by | Nov 17, 2024 | Science


Awais Ahmed was just 19 when he was part of the first Indian team that built a pod to participate in the second edition of the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition (2017). The team came within the top ten and Ahmed got to take a selfie with Elon Musk. That excitement was enhanced when he got to tour SpaceX’s factory in Los Angeles. When he got a ‘touch and feel’ of the rocket engines, Ahmed decided his career lay in space. 

After completing his master’s in mathematics at BITS, Pilani, Ahmed turned to the space sector and found there were already a few companies making rockets. He further learned that there was a premium market for high-resolution satellite images. He joined hands with classmate Kshitij Khandelwal to set up Pixxel Space, a satellite company, in 2019. 

When it launched its first satellite in 2021, Pixxel was the first ‘hyperspectral’ imaging company in the private sector. 

Ahmed spoke with Quantum about Pixxel and its plans. Excerpts: 

You have raised $71 million so far. What are your plans?

We have so far launched three satellites. They are demo satellites for us. But a couple of hyperspectral companies have come up in the last three years — our demo satellites were better than their commercial satellites. But we called them ‘demo satellites’ because they do not do daily revisits anywhere and they give 10-m resolution rather than 5-m. But we were able to prove the concept of hyperspectral, and also sell data from them. 

Next year we will launch six satellites — we have named them ‘Firefly’. They will be our flagship commercial satellites. These six will give us daily revisits anywhere on earth. Next we will launch 18 more satellites in 2026 and 2027. 

To whom do you sell the data? Do you have anchor customers?

We already have about 60 customers globally — oil and gas, mining companies — they are buying data from our demos and will buy data from our Firefly satellites. We have some big government customers also. NASA is a customer, the Indian Air Force is another.

What are the features of these satellites?

The first three will be 50 kg each and the rest 200 kg. They will be both optical and infra-red. 

Not SAR (synthetic aperture radar)?

No, not SAR. There are problems in putting both optical and SAR in the same satellite. Radar is always looking at an angle of 30-40 degrees, whereas optical is looking straight down. If the optical looks at 30 degrees, the image will not be clear. You can do optical and SAR in different satellites. 

We have a contract with the IAF to build for them a multi-payload, modular satellite. The 150 kg satellite will have four payloads — an electro-optical camera, a hyperspectral camera, a thermal camera and an SAR. But here we are not co-collecting images. The idea is to use optical when there are no clouds and SAR when there is. 

So, we can build these (SARs), but right now we are focusing on hyperspectral because globally there is a gap — there are companies doing well in SAR and in optical but none in hyperspectral. We want to be the global leader in hyperspectral. When we launched our first hyperspectral satellite in 2021, we were the world’s first commercial (non-government) hyperspectral satellite company. 

Think of hyperspectral as the next evolution of multi-spectral. Multi-spectral cameras can do imaging in 4-5 wavelengths, but the definition of hyperspectral is minimum 40 wavelengths. 

So, the world is moving towards hyperspectral imaging?

There are, maybe, three other companies doing hyperspectral in the world — none in India. There is a Canadian company called Wyvern. But they are doing in 32 wavelengths, which is not quite hyperspectral because the definition is 40 wavelengths — but you can call it ‘superspectral’. Then there is a company called Orbital Sidekick. We believe the resolution of our demo satellites is the same as theirs. And Planet Lab has just launched its first hyperspectral satellite. 

Your satellites can produce images of 5 m resolution. But the definition of a high-resolution image is 30 cm resolution.

At 30 cm it would be state-of-the-art. Anything below 80 cm will be very high-resolution. High resolution is below 2 m, anything above will be medium resolution. When I am talking about hyperspectral, the best that was achieved by NASA or anyone else before us was 30 m. When we launched our first demo, we made it 10 m — three times better. Now we are making it 5 m. 

It is not possible to go below 5 m, because we are also capturing 150 wavelengths. It is a trade-off. I can reduce 150 to, say, 80, then I can get a resolution of 2.5 m. That is our plan — we intend to get down to 1 m and below. But 5 m is more than enough for the use cases we cater to. Our customers come to us because of 150 wavelengths, they don’t come to us for 30 cm resolution.





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Uncovering stevia’s therapeutic side

by | Nov 3, 2024 | Science


Candy leaf (Stevia rebaudiana), a plant recognised for its natural non-caloric sweetening characteristics, also has therapeutic properties for diseases like endocrine, metabolic, immune, and cardiovascular diseases, because of its effect on cellular signalling systems, according to a new study. 

Assam exports stevia worldwide. The Central government body North Eastern Council also has highlighted stevia cultivation’s potential to aid the North-East economy due to its high demand and use. 

At the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, in Guwahati, researchers Dr Asis Bala, Associate Professor; Prof Ashis K Mukherjee, Director; and Piyali Devroy, research scholar, did a pioneering study on stevia’s medicinal properties. Their multimodal strategy integrated network pharmacology with in vitro and in vivo techniques, showing that the plant used phosphorylation of protein kinase C (PKC) to inhibit a crucial cellular signalling route. 

PKC is connected to inflammatory, autoimmune, endocrine, and cardiovascular illnesses. Stevia suppresses PKC phosphorylation, which alters downstream pathways that cause inflammation, a significant cause of endocrine metabolic and cardiovascular issues. The study shows stevia’s promise in this area for the first time. The study also found that active stevia molecules strongly interact with AMPK, highlighting the need for additional research. 

This work, published in the journal Food Bioscience, revealed stevia’s potential and identified new targets for immunological, endocrine and cardiovascular problems. It could have therapeutic effects on diabetes type 1 and type 2, autoimmune diabetes, pre-diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic kidney diseases and cardiovascular diseases like hypertension.

New ink to bust counterfeits

A novel ink with enhanced security features, developed with luminescent nanomaterials, can help stop counterfeiting in currency, certificates, branded goods and medicines. The ink can overcome the limitations of current covert tags, which are security features usually visible only under ultraviolet (UV) light and can be easily duplicated. 

Counterfeiting is a growing problem worldwide and researchers are trying to find ways to prevent it. 

Luminescent properties of rare earth ions and the characteristic emissions of bismuth have long been known. 

Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) have used this property of rare earth materials to synthesise a first-of-its-kind security ink based on luminescent nanomaterials with rare earth doping, enabling excitation-dependent luminescence; under both UV and near-infrared (NIR) light it gives visible emission. 

The new ink offers enhanced security features through its ability to display different colours under various light wavelengths. Specifically, the ink appears vibrant blue under 365 nm light, pink under 395 nm light, and orange-red under 980 nm NIR light, and remains effective under a range of light, temperature, and humidity conditions. 

The luminescent nanomaterial was synthesised using a simple co-precipitation method at 120°C. The nanomaterials were dispersed into commercially available PVC ink using sonication (applying sound energy). 

This mixture was then used to create patterns and letters through a screen-printing technique. 

The printed patterns, when exposed to different wavelengths of light, clearly showed the desired colour changes, proving the effectiveness of the ink.





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On the brink of de-extinction

by | Nov 3, 2024 | Science


Ever since those toothy dinosaurs bedazzled us in Jurassic Park, the lingering question for many of us has been: “Is this possible in real life?” 

It is okay for Richard Attenborough’s character to resurrect the beasts on the screen from the DNA in their blood found in the belly of a mosquito trapped in amber, but bringing back an extinct species from genomic sequences is not a real-life possibility — at least, not yet. 

Leave aside ethical or ecological considerations. The theoretical possibility is fraught with challenges. DNA degrades over time and, for species extinct for millions of years, you typically get only fragmented DNA. Also, you must inject the DNA into the embryo of a closely related species — the ones that exist today are typically not close enough. 

But even with a close relative, you may not be able to bring back exactly the gone species, but something closely resembling it. 

Revive & Restore, an initiative by serial entrepreneur Ryan Phelan, targets the “genetic rescue of endangered and extinct species” by funding research into advanced biotechnologies aimed at wildlife conservation efforts. 

With its partnership, scientists are attempting to bring back something akin to woolly mammoths, using today’s elephants. 

Successful instances of de-extinction have been reported before. Recently, resurrection biologists at the California Academy of Sciences — supported by Revive & Restore — brought back the beautiful, cobalt-coloured Xerces butterfly — declared extinct in 1940 — using a close relative, the Silvery Blue. 

Playing with a well-preserved 84-year-old specimen is fine, but going back millions of years in time and shovelling a dinosaur to the present is more the stuff of Spielbergs than scientists.





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Advancements in drug delivery inside cells

by | Nov 3, 2024 | Science


Intracellular drug delivery, or taking a therapeutic agent into the interior of cells, where they can be more effective, holds great promise for the treatment of various diseases, particularly cancer and genetic disorders. However, taking a drug inside a cell is not easy; several challenges need to be overcome. 

For example, the drugs should attack only the affected cells and not healthy ones, should remain stable once inside, and should not elicit an immune response. The biggest challenge is in getting past the cell wall. 

Scientists are constantly looking for ways to get therapeutic agents (drugs, enzymes, peptides, small molecules, genes, and so on) past the cell membrane. 

In this direction, two recent advancements in Indian laboratories have come to light. 

One is through a multi-institution research (IIT-Madras, Toyohashi University of Technology-Japan, IISER-Tirupati, and Christian Medical College-Vellore), which uncovered that ‘nano-burflower shaped gold nanoparticles’ can improve the efficiency of intracellular delivery.. This is particularly useful in the treatment of cancer. 

Delivery of biomolecules into cells is of great importance as this can be used for improved drug delivery, cell targeting, and cell and gene therapy. The means for introducing biomolecules into cells include viral and chemical methods; and physical methods such as magnetoporation, electroporation, and photoporation. Of these, photoporation or optoporation is the least invasive and least damaging to cells. 

Photoporation involves interaction of light and matter to disrupt the cell membrane and deliver drugs inside live cells. It can be used along with microfluidics (manipulating small amounts of fluids) to deliver biomolecules into the cell with high efficiency and cell viability. 

“Infrared pulsed laser irradiation on nano-burflower gold nanoparticles resulted to enhance a higher electromagnetic field in the tips or spikes of the nano-burflower nanoparticles in comparison with normal spherical gold nanoparticles. As a result, cell membranes can deform easily and create nanopores and deliver drugs from outside to inside of the live cells,” a note from the researchers says. 

This is for the first time that the benefits of droplet microfluidics in nano-burflower gold nanoparticles synthesis have been demonstrated for intracellular delivery of small to very large therapeutic molecules using infrared light pulses.

Viable technique

Dr Tuhin Subhra Santra, Associate Professor, Department of Engineering Design, IIT-Madras, says, “This technique can achieve high delivery efficiency and cell viability using any type of genes as well as very large enzyme delivery into live cells, which is not possible using any other methods.” 

“This research has translational potential in healthcare technology, including development of therapeutic strategies against various types of cancer and gene therapy,” says Prof Nitish R Mahapatra, Department of Biotechnology, IIT-Madras. 

Use of Covid-19 virus

In another research, scientists at the Bose Institute, Kolkata, have figured out a new way to create hydrogels using tiny protein fragments of just five amino acids from the SARS-CoV-1 virus, which could help improve targeted drug delivery and reduce side effects. Hydrogels (gels in which the liquid has been sucked out, leaving only the solid shell) are known to be suitable for drug delivery because of their swelling, mechanical strength and biocompatibility. 

Short peptide-based hydrogels hold potential for many applications. However, researchers have found their gelation difficult to control. Minor changes in the peptide sequence can significantly influence the self-assembly mechanism and, thereby, the gelation propensity. 

Following the use of SARS-CoV-E protein in the assembly and release of the virus, researchers deduced it may have inherent self-assembling properties that can contribute to the development of hydrogels. 

Prof Anirban Bhunia of Bose Institute and his collaborators from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru; University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA; and Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, showed that by rearranging just five amino acids of the SARS-CoV-1 virus, one can make gels from pentapeptides with unique properties. Some become gel when heated, others at room temperature. 

“This unique discovery could lead to significant medical advancements like customisable hydrogels that can improve targeted drug delivery, enhancing treatment efficacy while reducing side effects,” says a Bose Institute press release. 

These materials could revolutionise tissue engineering, potentially aiding in organ regeneration, it says.





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