Indian startups highlight how they are bridging the gap to counter China

At the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2026, startup founders outlined new work in space surveillance, lunar navigation and mapping. Their remarks showed how private firms are moving into strategic and commercial roles as India's space sector opens up.Navneet Singh, CEO of Kepler Aerospace, and Aakash Sinha, CEO of Omnipresent Robot Technologies at India Today Conclave Mumbai. (Photo: India Today)New Delhi,Oct 10, 2026 19:35 ISTIndia’s space ambitions are expanding beyond launching satellites and exploring the Moon, with startups developing technologies for space-based surveillance, autonomous satellite operations and advanced mapping.At the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2026, entrepreneurs highlighted how the opening up of the space sector, government support and growing defence requirements are changing the country’s approach to space technology.Navneet Singh, CEO of Kepler Aerospace, said India must significantly improve its ability to monitor assets from space as strategic competition intensifies.He claimed China could monitor certain assets every eight minutes, compared with India’s revisit capability of around one-and-a-half months in the domain he was discussing. “China has over 950 satellites, while we have 16 operational. We are bridging that gap,” Singh said. Kepler Aerospace is developing autonomous swarming satellites designed to work together and reduce the time required to collect and process information.The company plans to send its first six technology-demonstration satellites, each weighing around 15 kg, into orbit. These are intended primarily to detect cellphone and walkie-talkie emissions from space and demonstrate the potential of interconnected satellites.The long-term goal, Singh said, is to reduce the monitoring gap from around 45 days to a single orbital period, approximately 90 minutes. Faster observations could improve situational awareness for government and non-government operators, for whom delays in receiving information can be critical.Singh acknowledged that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) remains both an enabler and a gatekeeper as the sector evolves. However, he said the opening up of the space industry had transformed opportunities for private companies since 2018, making access to officials, scientists and institutions easier.STARTUPS BRING NEW CAPABILITIES TO LUNAR EXPLORATIONAakash Sinha, CEO of Omnipresent Robot Technologies, highlighted how Indian startups are contributing to complex missions, including Chandrayaan-3. His company helped develop technology supporting lunar navigation.When the Pragyan rover rolled onto the Moon, it had to build a three-dimensional understanding of the terrain around it to navigate safely. Unlike Earth, the lunar surface offers limited colour information, making it difficult to distinguish terrain features using conventional visual cues. Aakash Sinha, CEO of Omnipresent Robot Technologies at India Today Conclave Mumbai. Sinha said the team relied on basic algorithms rather than advanced artificial intelligence because of budget constraints. The approach worked, demonstrating how carefully designed, resource-efficient solutions can succeed in demanding space environments.He added that India's ambitions now extend to building advanced three-dimensional mapping satellites for government applications, with the ability to observe targets at sub-metre resolution.Sinha said access to government grants, senior scientists and officials had improved significantly. He also pointed to the Research, Development and Innovation scheme, which offers substantial funding support, alongside government procurement commitments that can help startups secure early customers.Together, the experiences of Kepler Aerospace and Omnipresent Robot Technologies illustrate a shift in India's space programme: startups are no longer merely supporting established institutions but are increasingly developing capabilities with strategic and commercial applications.- Ends