How Three Engineers Are Building India’s Satellite Eyes to Track Floods, Farms, and Disasters

On clear nights, satellites pass overhead silently, invisible to the eye, yet the images they capture shape life on Earth. These images are far from abstract data; they help warn communities before floods arrive, guide farmers on when to irrigate or harvest, track forest fires as they spread, and locate ships or people during disasters. They influence how governments manage borders, how cities develop, and how scientists monitor climate change.

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“Most people never think about where these images come from. But when a flood warning comes early, or a rescue team finds someone in time, it usually begins with a satellite image,” says Sanjay Kumar.

At the centre of every satellite image are the ‘eyes’ of the satellite, primarily sophisticated cameras and sensors that collect light and heat and turn them into information we can use. For many years, even though India became known around the world for launching satellites, these eyes were mostly brought in from other countries, controlled by foreign suppliers and strict export rules. 

While India had strong launch technology and growing satellite and drone programmes, the most important parts that actually capture the images, the electro-optical sensors, were still mostly imported.

“That meant we could put satellites into space, but we did not always fully control what they could see, or when they could see it,” explains Manoj Kumar Gaddam. This gap is now being addressed by a laboratory in Hyderabad, where three engineers who once worked on restoring human eyesight are building India’s own eyes in orbit.

From helping people see to watching the Earth

Sanjay Kumar, Manoj Kumar Gaddam, and Punit Badeka did not meet at a space agency. Instead, they crossed paths at the LV Prasad Eye Institute. Their work there revolved around an intensely human challenge, helping doctors see more clearly inside the living eye. They all entered space optics through very different routes.

Sanjay’s journey began at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, followed by a master’s degree in photonics and optics at IIT Madras. A project that involved developing a handheld imaging device for eye surgeons drew him into applied optics. At LV Prasad, he worked on adaptive optics systems that correct tiny distortions in real time, allowing doctors to see individual retinal cells.

“When you work on adaptive optics, precision becomes personal,” he says. “You are correcting errors smaller than a wavelength of light, on an eye that is always moving.”

Manoj came from a mechanical and design engineering background, with experience across precision-driven disciplines. His move into medical device development introduced him to systems where reliability could not be compromised.

“In medical engineering, failure is not an option. You design for stability, repeatability, and long-term performance, because real people depend on it,” he explains.

Punit brought expertise in operations and manufacturing. At LV Prasad, he was responsible for setting up an ultra-precision optics and contact lens manufacturing line. He selected machines capable of shaping optical surfaces with nanometre-level accuracy.

“At that scale, you stop thinking about products and start thinking about processes. That way of thinking fits very naturally with space and defence,” Punit reflects. Working daily alongside doctors, engineers, and patients, the three began to see a larger possibility. The same precision that restored vision could also be used to observe the planet.

A lockdown question with national consequences

During the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2021, the idea of building indigenous space optics became impossible to ignore. India had already established world-class capabilities in launching satellites. However, the most sensitive part of Earth observation, high-performance electro-optical and infrared payloads, was still largely imported.

“That dependence is risky,” Sanjay says. “Not because of politics, but because when situations change rapidly, you need control over your most critical systems.”

A simple question emerged from their medical work. They were already shaping contact lens moulds with ultra-precision machines, achieving accuracies measured in nanometres. If such surfaces could correct the human eye, why could they not also form the mirrors of a telescope?

This question led them to monolithic optics, which are designs where large parts of an optical system are carved from a single block rather than assembled from many separate components. Such designs are lighter, more stable, and less likely to drift or misalign in space.

“We were not trying to build something exotic. We were trying to build something stable,” Sanjay explains.

In December 2022, the three formally incorporated EON Space Labs, leaving medical research behind to take on the far riskier challenge of building India’s own advanced optical payloads.

Building India’s eyes, from start to finish

When EON began mapping India’s optics landscape, they realised that skills were scattered across the country, but no single effort tied them together.

“India did not lack talent,” Manoj says. “What it lacked was integration. No one was responsible for the entire journey, from optical design to a flight-ready payload.”

The three set out to build that complete pipeline. Today, more than 90 percent of its systems are indigenous, spanning optics, mechanics, electronics, and software. HHV Advanced Technologies in Bengaluru became a key partner for manufacturing ultra-precision lenses and monolithic optical components.

“For us, indigenisation is about confidence. When you understand every part of your system, you can trust it in space,” Punit says.

Their flagship achievement is MIRA, a compact space telescope. The current version, MIRA 50 FS, weighs about 502 grams, making it one of the lightest space-qualified imaging payloads developed in India.

“In space, weight is everything,” Manoj explains. “Launching one kilogram to low Earth orbit can cost up to 20,000 dollars. Every gram you save opens up new mission possibilities.”

In November 2025, MIRA completed thermo-vacuum testing at a NABL-accredited facility in Ahmedabad, meeting NASA-aligned standards. “That is the moment a design stops being an idea and becomes a real spacecraft instrument,” Sanjay says.

This space-qualified miniaturised optical telescope is currently scheduled for launch by June 2026.

What these satellite eyes see

EON’s systems function like highly stable, intelligent cameras. In visible light, they capture detailed images. Infrared, they detect heat, allowing them to see at night and through smoke, fog, and haze. “Our goal is not just imagery,” Punit says. “It is understanding change.”

From orbit, they can track ships, monitor crops and forests, and observe infrastructure. On drones and aircraft, the company’s LUMIRA systems bring the same optical approach closer to the ground.

One ongoing problem in Earth observation is delay; images often arrive after conditions on the ground have already changed. This startup is addressing this by combining its small, lightweight optical technology with new Earth-observation satellites that revisit the same areas more frequently. These satellites use onboard AI to process data in space, so only the most useful information is sent back to Earth, reducing delays.

“In disaster response or agriculture, hours can matter more than resolution,” Sanjay explains.

Under the Ministry of Defence’s iDEX programme, EON Space Labs developed the optics in collaboration with other startups developing constellation satellites and ground-based platforms. EON’s systems can detect drones beyond two kilometres, ships over 11 kilometres off the Visakhapatnam coast, and human movement across borders at more than one and a half kilometres using short-wave infrared imaging.

“This wasn’t a controlled setting. We tested in fog, salt spray, and constant motion,” Manoj says.

For Parth Jain, a systems engineer at EON and former ISRO contributor, the work is both demanding and meaningful.

“When you work on space hardware, microns and milligrams stop being theoretical. They decide success or failure,” he says.

Why this matters

Colonel Sarjeet Yadav, retired army officer and venture partner at MountTech Growth Fund, sees EON as addressing a critical strategic gap.

“India still imports much of its advanced imaging capability. EON is reducing that dependence with lightweight, deployable systems built at home,” he says.

As India’s needs in defence, agriculture, disaster response, and climate monitoring grow, the ability to design and operate its own satellite eyes becomes essential.

Standing among optical assemblies once built for medical devices and now prepared for orbit, Sanjay reflects, “Whether you are imaging a retina or the Earth, the responsibility is the same. You must see clearly, and you must see in time to act.”

For the first time, those eyes in orbit are being shaped and trusted in India.

All pictures courtesy EON Space Labs