CHENNAI, Sept. 30
Indian space technology start-up SatLeo Labs will launch the country’s first dedicated commercial CubeSat-class thermal imaging payload on Thursday, taking the first step towards a planned constellation of 10 to 15 satellites designed to provide high-resolution temperature data from space.
The payload, named TAPAS-1, will fly aboard Dhruva Space’s LEAP-2 satellite platform on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission, which will be launched on a Falcon 9 rocket.
TAPAS-1, short for Thermal Access Platform for Analytics & Solutions, will demonstrate SatLeo’s thermal sensing technology, payload performance and data-processing capabilities in orbit. The company plans to use the mission as the foundation for a larger commercial thermal intelligence platform.
“It is India’s first commercial private thermal payload,” SatLeo Labs co-founder and chief strategy officer Urmil Bakhai said.
Bakhai said TAPAS-1 is a complete payload mounted on a satellite platform rather than a component-level technology demonstration.
Unlike conventional optical satellite imagery, the system uses thermal infrared sensing to measure temperature information. TAPAS-1 will carry a long-wave infrared, or LWIR, sensor capable of observing thermal characteristics that are not visible through standard optical imaging.
SatLeo describes the technology as a “thermometer for planet Earth”, designed to measure land surface temperatures at greater spatial resolution and frequency than datasets currently available.
The company sees applications across climate monitoring, agriculture, urban heat mapping, disaster management and infrastructure monitoring.
TAPAS-1 is also intended to validate technology for SatLeo’s more ambitious PYRO programme, under which the company plans to establish a constellation of thermal imaging satellites.
SatLeo aims to put between 10 and 15 satellites into orbit by 2029.
A second mission, TAPAS-2, is already under manufacture and is expected to launch by the middle of 2027.
While TAPAS-1 will use a long-wave infrared sensor, TAPAS-2 is planned as a multi-sensor payload combining medium-wave infrared and optical sensing capabilities.
The company is considering both Indian launch vehicles and private launch providers for TAPAS-2. The eventual choice will depend on launch schedules and commercial considerations.
SatLeo intends to expand further with PYRO, a roughly 150-kg-class microsatellite carrying multiple sensing bands.
The planned progression from TAPAS-1 to TAPAS-2 and eventually PYRO reflects the company’s attempt to move from an initial orbital demonstration towards a commercially operated Earth-observation system rather than treating Thursday’s launch as a standalone technology experiment.
SatLeo says it has already received letters of intent worth about $52 million from seven to eight prospective customers.
The potential clients include companies in India as well as customers in the Middle East, Australia and the United States. Letters of intent indicate commercial interest but should be distinguished from completed sales or revenue already received by the company.
SatLeo has previously tested applications of its thermal technology on the ground.
In Tumakuru, Karnataka, satellite and drone-based thermal monitoring has been used by the municipal corporation to track methane accumulation at a 40-acre landfill and identify urban heat islands.
The system was intended to give local authorities thermal information that could be used to identify potential problems rather than relying solely on complaints after they emerged.
SatLeo has also worked with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on heat monitoring.
The company’s platform produced heat forecasts with an accuracy of within 2 to 3 degrees Celsius and supported QR-code-based heat advisories for outdoor workers. The information was also provided to health teams to give them advance notice of periods of extreme heat.
TAPAS-1 will take the underlying thermal sensing approach into orbit, where SatLeo will seek to demonstrate that its payload can collect and process useful temperature data from space.
Thermal Earth observation differs from conventional satellite photography because it measures emitted heat rather than relying solely on reflected visible light. That can provide information relevant to surface temperatures and thermal variations across agricultural land, cities, infrastructure and other areas.
For SatLeo, the commercial proposition depends not only on collecting thermal imagery but on increasing how frequently and precisely such information can be obtained.
A constellation of 10 to 15 satellites would potentially allow the company to revisit locations more frequently than a single spacecraft could, although the actual performance of the planned network will depend on the satellites eventually deployed.
Thursday’s mission remains the first stage of that process.
TAPAS-1 must demonstrate the thermal sensor, payload and associated data-processing capabilities under orbital conditions before the company progresses towards the more sophisticated multi-sensor systems planned for later missions.
The launch also adds another commercial Earth-observation capability to India’s growing private space sector, where start-ups are developing satellites, launch systems, data platforms and specialised payloads following the opening of the industry to greater private participation.
SatLeo’s approach is focused specifically on thermal intelligence rather than conventional optical Earth imagery.
If TAPAS-1 performs as intended, the company plans to follow it with TAPAS-2 in 2027 before moving towards its larger PYRO satellites and the proposed 10-to-15-satellite constellation by the end of the decade.
For now, Thursday’s launch will provide the first orbital test of that strategy, putting SatLeo’s commercial thermal sensor into space and determining whether technology already tested in applications on the ground can deliver comparable temperature intelligence from orbit.
