Indian startup PierSight unveils 1st all-weather maritime surveillance satellite

New Delhi, Nov 20: Indian space tech startup PierSight on Wednesday announced the Varuna satellite that will deliver 24/7 all weather maritime surveillance. The Varuna mission that aims to redefine maritime intelligence with an in-orbit demonstration of ground breaking imaging technology is the first step by PierSight to establish a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) satellites.

The SAR & AIS satellite constellation will provide 100 per cent ocean coverage with up to 30 minute revisit times. Unlike conventional optical satellites, Synthetic Aperture Radars aboard the satellite can see even through cloud cover, extreme weather, and night time. This enables PierSight’s dedicated maritime-focused constellation to offer persistent monitoring, a vital tool to accurately track ship movements, detect oil spills, and geo-fencing critical infrastructure such as undersea cables and pipelines.

Developed in an unprecedented nine months, Varuna is equipped with breakthrough technologies, including a SAR system in CubeSAT format and an indigenously developed reflectarray antenna, showcasing the first private SAR satellite in-orbit demonstration from India. "Technology readiness level (TRL) is defined on a scale of 1 to 9 (with 9 being the highest). With Varuna, we will achieve TRL-9 for all subsystems. This will demonstrate flightworthiness for all future missions," said Vinit Bansal, CTO and Co-founder, PierSight.

PierSight is co-founded by ex-ISRO scientist Gaurav Seth and Bansal who is an ex-national instruments engineer. The satellite features a deployable reflectarray antenna and a modular Software-Defined Radar & Radio (SDRR), innovations crucial for enhancing satellite adaptability and future operational needs.

Varuna also exemplifies PierSight's rapid deployment capabilities, setting new standards in the industry where 18-24 months is the norm. "This rapid development demonstrates our ability to respond swiftly to the urgent needs for environmental and security surveillance," said Gaurav Seth, CEO and Co-founder of PierSight.

"We are setting new standards in the industry by rapidly advancing from concept to flight readiness in such a short span. Our existing and potential customers are interested in launch on demand capabilities; Varuna is a demonstration of this capability." Varuna will fly aboard the ISRO’s PSLV launcher as a secondary payload aboard the POEM platform. ISRO is yet to announce the date, however, it is slated for launch within the year.