00:00I'm Dr. Anubha Jainst with ETV Bharat.
00:02And joining me for this conversation is Puneet Badeka, co-founder of EON Space Labs.
00:08First of all, congratulations to Mr. Badeka and the entire EON Space Labs team
00:13on the successful launch of Meera aboard SpaceX Falcon 9.
00:17Thank you, Dr. Anubha.
00:18So first, we would like to know Meera weighs just 502 grams,
00:23but is designed to deliver sub-9-meter multispectral imagery across nine bands.
00:27So what is the key engineering breakthrough that allowed EON to achieve this level of capability
00:33in such a compact payload?
00:35Over to you.
00:37Sure.
00:38Thank you so much.
00:39So first of all, it is very important and a prestigious moment for all of us.
00:43Seeing something that our team has worked on for years, and now that finally leaves the earth,
00:49it is actually a moment that is, you know, which is very difficult to express,
00:53but that's a proud moment for us.
00:54So at EON Space Labs, we have developed this telescope called Meera,
00:59which is a miniaturized telescopic-based imaging system.
01:03As you rightly said, that this weighs only 502 grams
01:06and is designed for earth observation from low-earth orbit.
01:10It is basically a compact multispectral imaging system
01:14with nine bands around 9.2-meter GSD ground sampling distance.
01:20The key design, the important part of this is that this basically uses a monolithic fused
01:26silica optics architecture, which is made out of a single piece of glass.
01:32This helps us to achieve a compact and a mechanically stable optical design.
01:37For us, the challenge is not only simply to make this a smaller camera,
01:43but also to retain the useful information that we can get from that one single piece of glass,
01:48which enables all the satellite manufacturers to get this resolution in this 502 grams,
01:55which is an important part.
01:58So Meera is also integrated with onboard computing for AI-based processing.
02:03So what kinds of image processing or detection tasks can be performed in orbit
02:08and how could this HAI capability change the way earth observation data is used commercially?
02:16So the object is not only to get the conventional photographies from the Meera.
02:21There are different spectral bands that are being used
02:23and provide different kind of informations that can be useful for agriculture,
02:29environmental monitoring, marine time observations,
02:33mining or infrastructure, and many other commercial earth observation things.
02:38So nine-meter GSD is sufficient enough for getting applications like that of agriculture,
02:44where you need to capture a wider area of land, large area monitoring.
02:50So this is not only the place we are going to stop.
02:52This is just an initial starting
02:54where we will be developing the family of imaging observations starting from 9.2 meter
03:00is just a starting, which can cater to the wider field of view areas.
03:03Going forward, we are also developing 4.5 meter GSDs,
03:071.5 meter GSDs, 1.5 meter GSDs,
03:10and then we will go into sub-meter resolutions.
03:12Okay.
03:13So initially you have started with agriculture domain.
03:16Correct.
03:16And any other specific application you like to mention
03:18or customer's requirement are you targeting with this combination?
03:22So basically the AI Edge part of it, which has been developed by our company with whom we have launched,
03:29that is Take Me to Space.
03:30They have developed the readout electronics, the AI Edge module on the top of it,
03:34along with the multispectral sensors that will give the analytics to the farmers
03:38about the crop health, the soil health, the water content in the soil,
03:42the pests that are growing, the cultivation that can happen not only in the country,
03:46but across the globe, which will help the farmers with n number of applications.
03:51Since the core expertise is capturing the data sets from this Meera from space,
03:56the same AI can also be used for applications like marine time surveillance,
04:01where we can try to see the movement of ships because they are 9 meters object,
04:05which can easily be seen from space with this miniaturized payload,
04:08can be used for any application.
04:10The important thing is that the data will be under our control since it is our payload, our satellite.
04:15So we can tweak it with the help of AI to n number of applications that can capture 9 meter
04:20GSD resolution.
04:21With this data, you can coordinate with the defense domain of our country, right?
04:29Yes, we can, but 9 meter GSD is sufficient for large wide area,
04:33where we will get a situational awareness about what activities are ongoing.
04:36But for defense application, we would like to go somewhere beyond less than 9 meter,
04:41that is 4 meter, which is our upcoming project, 1.5 meter and then some meters.
04:45But yes, situational awareness in terms of marine time surveillance for defense
04:48can definitely be catered with the help of this product.
04:51Okay.
04:52And what are the next steps after you establish contact and receive the first image?
04:57The first step initially will be to validate and see the performances,
05:02what we are able to get, the data that we will have to collect
05:05so that we ensure that the AI is working accordingly.
05:08And then to ensure that, you know, 9 meter GSDs will do some trial runs
05:12on the post data, past data that are available.
05:16And we'll try to see and judge how different deviation that we are having,
05:20not only in terms of the AI part of it, but also we will try to enhance the image resolutions.
05:26What best surface finish we can get since we have our expertise in designing these optics.
05:32So once we get these images, we will also try to refine the surface finish
05:36and get much more better clarity in terms of images, in terms of GSDs,
05:40in terms of optical performances.
05:42We will also try to see whether can we reduce the weight of 502 grams further
05:47with the images that we are getting so that now the only thing that was pending for us
05:52is the flight heritage, the images, how actually this product is going to perform.
05:56We have done a lot of tests on the field, on the ground, in the laboratories of this product.
06:02Once we get this further enhancement of the images quality,
06:06the performance as compared to the current data sets that are available,
06:10we will do one-to-one comparison of all of these things.
06:12Again, with our partner company, Take Me To Space, who has the control of all of these datas.
06:17Then we will try to see in terms of optics, yes, we will further try to enhance the image quality.
06:23Okay, so how will the learning from Meera feed into EON's planned high-resolution imaging payload,
06:29including your, as you mentioned, sub 4-meter and 1.5-meter glass systems?
06:37Basically, as I said, that further trying to reduce the size and weight is the key part of it.
06:42Again, because we would want to integrate not only the optics, but the sensors, optomechanical,
06:47all together coming in 502 grams.
06:50It is not only just the optics.
06:53So, that is where once we get the images, we will again try to do the simulation in the software
06:59that we have.
06:59The image, we will try to import those images in our software and see whether are we getting the same
07:05images
07:05that we have done during our design versus this.
07:09And then with the help of the anomalies, we will identify, we will further try to refine the image quality.
07:14We will further try to define the surface finish, the lambda by surfaces, whatever we try to get.
07:19We will try to optimize the further designs and see what best we can try to optimize in that.
07:25Okay.
07:25And lastly, with India encouraging greater, you know, India public-private sector participation in space.
07:32So, what needs to happen next in terms of access to infrastructure, funding, data, regulation, or I would say government
07:39or commercial customers?
07:40So, for India, are the observation startups to move from technology demonstration to sustainable commercial operations?
07:48Yes.
07:49So, this is a very good question and that correlates with the current development that are ongoing in the country
07:54right now.
07:55In India, we have a good space ecosystem that is developed.
07:59A good number of startups have shown up.
08:01They have proven their technologies in space that starts from rocket manufacturer, including satellite manufacturers, payload manufacturers like us,
08:11as well as data companies who are available, who are already procuring a lot of data from the current satellites
08:17that are there, from the current payloads that are there in the space and then trying to generate the analytics.
08:21With the infrastructure of the PPP model that the government is now planning, this will be really very helpful for
08:29the states, for the countries, and for the companies like us all together,
08:34where, for an example, Tilangana government or Assam government, they are trying to collaborate all the startups together, make sure
08:42that we are joining hands, and then we are launching our products.
08:45Skyroot is ready to launch their rockets in months, in a month, they are trying to launch many number of
08:52rockets, which will enable the satellite manufacturers and like people like us to send our payloads frequently in space,
08:59which is where this hand joining, for example, like us, it would have taken six to seven years for us
09:06to send our own payload, because we need a lot of money, first to have these payloads in space.
09:12A collaboration with a company like Take Me to Space, where we both joined together hands, usually these payloads, it
09:18takes six to eight months to get one payload, and these all are being imported,
09:23which is where we stepped into picture, joined hands with Take Me to Space, and thought that let us send
09:27whatever is available with us to prove that India has that capability,
09:32which is what we were able to do in this year itself, we have done two launches.
09:36Going forward, we have a plan of constellation of launches. Similarly, joining hands with rocket manufacturers, when we will have
09:42the capability to launch multiple satellites all together,
09:45in collaboration with the PPP model with the government, where we can get agricultural data from space in real time
09:53on daily basis, which will enable the companies,
09:57the states to ensure that they are generating revenue.
10:00We are directly helping farmers accordingly, which will enable the investors to come in and invest, because we will frequently
10:08start showing those capabilities and generate revenues.
10:11So this model is really very important, not only for agriculture, a lot of commercial applications, maritime surveillance, port defense,
10:18and a lot of more things.
10:21As you have mentioned, so many advantages about this project. So have you collaborated with any venture or any commercial
10:30establishment so far?
10:33So far, we are working with, again, Take Me to Space company, then there is one more, Kepler Aerospace, based
10:39out of Bangalore, where we are helping them to build the payloads for their swarm of satellites for their IDEX
10:45challenge.
10:47Really, really very brilliant to see that all of these companies are doing so good. All of the satellite companies
10:52are actually waiting for the real flight heritage of the product.
10:55Once we get these products, which we soon are going to get once we are injected in the orbit, that
11:00will give them the confidence again.
11:01And we are open for collaboration with companies because this is when we will get into space early.
11:07Otherwise, if I will see, I don't want to get into the satellite manufacturers, build my own satellites, because that
11:13is not our forte.
11:13We would like to restrict on the optical part of it, the payload part of it.
11:17We'll try to see how we can reduce the weight. We'll try to see how we can increase the quality
11:22further and help Indian ecosystem to launch frequently.
11:26Rather than waiting for six months, we can launch in four weeks of time.
11:31Right. Thank you, Pudinji, for sharing your insights on Meera, its capabilities, and Eon Space Labs roadmap ahead.
11:37The success of missions such as Meera will also be closely watched as India's private space ecosystem expands into advanced
11:45Earth observation technologies.
11:47With that, I'm Dr. Anubha Jain with my team, ETV Bharat, signing off.
