TakeMe2Space Launches India's First Orbital Computing Satellite on SpaceX Rocket with 23 Customers

TakeMe2Space Launches India's First Orbital Computing Satellite

Indian space startup TakeMe2Space successfully launched MOI-1A, described as India's first orbital computing satellite, aboard a SpaceX rocket on October 11

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. The sub-50kg spacecraft lifted off from California on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission, marking a significant milestone for the country's spacetech sector4

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. The satellite carries Nvidia Orin NX edge-computing processors designed to process Earth observation data in orbit rather than transmitting raw information back to Earth2

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. Founder and CEO Ronak Samantray explained that customers can upload containerized AI models to the satellite, which processes data as it passes over specified areas and transmits only the analysis results1

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Processing Power and Technical Specifications

MOI-1A is a 14-kg satellite equipped with onboard computing capacity of 117 trillion operations per second (TOPS), 2 TB of storage, and a nine-band multispectral imager4

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. The spacecraft operates as an edge-computing satellite with approximately 150 watts of power, positioning it differently from conventional data centers1

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. This contrasts with companies like SpaceX and Starcloud, which plan to deploy more advanced Nvidia chips used in terrestrial data centers5

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. Samantray highlighted that in-orbit data processing can reduce data volume by a factor of 1,000—a 2,000-km stretch of synthetic-aperture radar imagery generating around 300 GB of data could shrink to just a few kilobytes after AI model processing4

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Customer Base and Commercial Applications

TakeMe2Space has signed 23 customers for the mission, including geographic information system companies and educational institutions1

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. Around 80% of these customers are based outside India, according to Samantray4

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. Commercial users span agriculture, mining, supply-chain management and insurance sectors5

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. US-based space data analytics firm Little Place Labs is among the confirmed customers1

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. Indian educational institutions are using the infrastructure as an orbital research laboratory, while international geospatial companies leverage the in-orbit inference services4

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. Samantray emphasized that customers paying to download large volumes of raw data find value in the cost reduction from not downloading it, which offsets the premium for compute in orbit1

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Building a Six-Satellite Constellation

MOI-1A represents the first step in TakeMe2Space's ambitious plan to build a six-satellite constellation4

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. The startup plans to launch MOI-1B in November aboard ISRO's SSLV, carrying a black-and-white imager primarily for object detection4

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. Gen-2 satellites will feature roughly 10X the capacity of Gen-1 spacecraft, with around 100 TB of storage per satellite and significantly greater computing capacity4

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. These larger, networked satellites will introduce laser-based links between spacecraft, allowing data exchange without routing through ground stations4

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. Two Gen-2 satellites, MOI-2 and MOI-3, are planned for launch in 2027, most likely aboard Indian launch vehicles4

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. The startup has secured a slot aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late 2028 for MOI-4 and MOI-5, which would complete the constellation4

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Revenue Projections and Future Plans

Samantray expects each Gen-2 satellite to generate around $1 million in annual revenue, targeting approximately $6 million in annual recurring revenue from its in-orbit computing business by 20284

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. The Indian space startup also aims to offer cold storage in orbit for critical data, targeting financial-services and defence customers seeking additional backup locations beyond terrestrial cloud providers5

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. The company designs and manufactures most satellite subsystems in India while sourcing chips, solar cells and propulsion systems externally1

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. TakeMe2Space is also designing Gen-3 satellites in the 1,500-kg class with around 25 kW of power, with a potential launch around 20294

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Overcoming Previous Setbacks

The MOI-1A launch comes after TakeMe2Space experienced setbacks in its satellite deployment program. The startup's earlier technology-demonstration mission in late 2024 successfully validated its ability to upload applications, perform AI inference in orbit and download results1

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. However, a subsequent satellite, MOI-1, was lost on January 12 after a launch-vehicle third-stage failure during ISRO's PSLV-C62 mission2

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. Following this failure, the company secured the first available launch slot on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket2

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. Samantray noted that while the broad satellite architecture remains similar to previous missions, individual subsystems have undergone multiple development cycles since the earlier mission4

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Broader Indian Spacetech Ecosystem

The Transporter-18 rideshare mission also carried payloads from other Indian spacetech startups, demonstrating the growing capabilities of India's space sector4

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. SatLeo Labs launched its TAPAS-1 thermal-imaging payload aboard Dhruva Space's LEAP-2 satellite, while EON Space Labs' MIRA imaging system flew onboard TakeMe2Space's MOI-1A4

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. SatLeo Labs describes TAPAS-1 as India's first dedicated commercial thermal payload, designed to capture land-surface temperature data for applications including urban heat mapping, crop-stress monitoring, disaster monitoring and infrastructure surveillance4

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. EON's MIRA is a compact multispectral imaging system weighing 502 grams, designed to capture Earth observation data for agriculture, mining, marine monitoring, supply chains and insurance4

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. This collaborative approach highlights how Indian startups are leveraging rideshare missions to deploy specialized imaging and onboard data processing capabilities, positioning the country as an emerging player in commercial space services.