From ambitions to orbit: Dhruva Space is building one of India’s largest satellite mass production facilities

When Sanjay Nekkanti started building satellites at age 19, the private space sector in India was close to non-existent. “There were hundreds of millions of people, and yet, no one was doing that [launching satellite building companies]. For me, this really was motivation to take the road less travelled, and lead the opening of the private space tech ecosystem in India,” recalls Nekkanti.

Today, as founder and CEO of Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space, Nekkanti is preparing to open one of the largest satellite mass production facilities in India — a 280,000 sq. ft. facility designed not only to accelerate Dhruva’s next phase of growth, but also to serve as a key enabler for India’s growing space ecosystem.

“We felt that there was a need to focus on creating infrastructure which doesn’t exist in the country,” Nekkanti remarked, referring to Dhruva’s upcoming facility in Telangana. “We’re quite excited for the future.”

This facility is being constructed to enable mass production of satellites through assembly, integration, and testing, and will be capable of building satellites up to 500 kg in class. It will be one of the largest of its kind in India.

Though Dhruva is vertically integrated, it works closely with a network of over 500 vendors. This facility will complement and accelerate their contributions, as well.

To fund its ambitions, Dhruva is tapping into a growing network of institutional and government-backed funding sources. From government programmes to venture capital funds that are strongly focused on the space technology sector, the funding outlook is “quite bright”, says Nekkanti optimistically.

Expanding the orbit

Founded in 2012 by Nekkanti, Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Abhay Egoor, and Krishna Teja Penamakuru, Dhruva Space is a full-service space engineering company involved in the space, launch, and ground segments, supporting both civilian and defence clients globally.

Dhruva Space initially concentrated on small satellites, CubeSat buses and essential subsystems such as orbital deployers. It has since built out a broad portfolio covering modular satellite platforms (P-DoT, P-30, P-Nu), the DSOD family of orbital deployers, DSOL communications systems, launch and mission integration services, ground-as-a-service offerings, and commercial imagery and analytics.

This expansion has attracted a diverse client base spanning government agencies, academic institutions, and private enterprises. The company’s partnerships include international collaborations with Kinéis and Comat in France, joint missions with SatSure, and payload work with Australian firms Akula Tech and Esper Satellites for its upcoming LEAP-1 mission.

Alongside these, Dhruva continues to work closely with ISRO through multiple PSLV flight opportunities. Its growth trajectory has been powered by a combination of institutional investment, a significant Series A funding round of about Rs 123 crore, and targeted government grants to advance space-grade manufacturing capabilities.

A new era of vertical integration

What sets Dhruva Space apart is its ability to amalgamate three core segments of satellite services: the space segment (building spacecraft), the launch segment, and the ground segment — into a seamless, vertically integrated solution.

“As time evolved, and technologies evolved, we found an opportunity and a need to stitch these three pillars together,” said Nekkanti, referring to the rationale behind Dhruva’s vertically integrated capabilities.

As satellite missions metamorphose from dozens to thousands of deployments, this integrated model gives Dhruva greater control, faster turnaround times, and improved efficiency and reliability, which is “the beauty of vertical integration”, as put by Nekkanti.

Regardless, Dhruva isn’t stopping at integration. With its upcoming facility, the company is laying an integral groundwork to meet rising demand for satellite services, from Earth observation to communications and beyond.

Powering the future with Solis+

One of Dhruva’s most exciting innovations is its next-generation solar power module, Solis+. Unlike traditional panels, Solis+ improves packing efficiency and offers rollable arrays, which is a game-changer for missions requiring higher power payloads.

Since solar panels come in various sizes, packing efficiency is critical for maximising the available space and minimising launch weight. “Imagine if there were a football field-sized solar panel in space. It can’t just be deployed as a solid panel- that’s not possible. This is why we’re developing a rollable type of panel,” added Nekkanti.

This innovation thereby allows for more scalable and flexible power deployment in orbit, enhancing the capabilities of satellites across different mission profiles.

Expanding the platform

Nekkanti aims for Dhruva to go beyond small satellites and plans to scale up offerings by developing satellites in the 500 kg class.

Though Dhruva doesn’t have any openings in the human spaceflight domain as of yet, Nekkanti affirms that “human spaceflight has a close place in our heart. We hope that we can play an important and meaningful role in human space exploration from India.”

The company is also growing internationally, with export wins in Australia, the UAE, and Europe, and collaborations like one with French firm Sodern, whose payload will fly aboard a Dhruva-built satellite in 2026.

Though Dhruva has a measured approach for its roadmap, it isn’t shying away from bold ideas. The company has taken on a few moonshot projects, but would like to keep those under wraps - for now.

Beyond manufacturing, Dhruva is also exploring how artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and advanced manufacturing can enhance both satellite and ground-based services. Nekkanti believes that space enables cross-pollination of technologies, suggesting that new AI models could be developed and deployed onboard satellites to enhance efficiency.

“Although a lot of these technologies are usually looked at separately, we can look at taking some of these parts and plugging them into the spacetech domain to improve the quality of service, or reach new heights of space-based solutions,” commented Nekkanti.

Looking ahead, Dhruva aims to establish itself as one of the leading companies and satellite providers in India’s expanding space technology sector, and as an original equipment manufacturer servicing both Indian and global requirements.

“Space is a possibility left to how we would like to explore it - and Dhruva has built technologies that can be utilised for any type of application. The future is bright,” affirms Nekkanti. For Dhruva Space, the sky is not the limit — it’s just the beginning.

(The article was updated to fix a typo.)