Dhruva Space: Shaping India’s Future Space Manufacturing – by Ritwaj Ranjan, Space News Contributor – India, Interplanetary.tv – Photo caption: Sanjay Srikanth Nekkanti (Founder and CEO), Chaitanya Dora (Chief Financial Officer and Co-founder), Abhay Egoor (Director of Space Avionics and Co-founder), Krishna Teja Penamakuru (Co-founder), Surapureddy (Co-founder) – credit: Dhruve Space – Video credit: Doordarshan Startup Champions, Dr. K Sivan, Former ISRO Chairman interacts with Dhruva Space Jan 26, 2021 – For decades, India’s space ambitions have been synonymous with ISRO’s pioneering missions. But the emergence of private space enterprises is now transforming the nation’s space ecosystem into a more collaborative, agile, and commercially robust domain. Among the most influential players in this space renaissance is Dhruva Space, a Hyderabad-based startup building end-to-end satellite infrastructure — and pushing India’s space economy to new heights.

Founded by Sanjay Nekkanti, Abhay Egoor, and Narayan Prasad, Dhruva Space is India’s first full-stack private space company offering satellite platforms, deployment systems, and mission operations for government and commercial clients alike. With their engineering and entrepreneurial roots spanning across India, Europe, and the United States, the founding trio has created a company that’s not only deeply rooted in India’s space legacy but also wired into the future of global NewSpace markets.

Company History

Dhruva Space’s journey reflects the evolution of India’s space economy itself — from state-dominated to startup-driven. CEO Sanjay Nekkanti, an alumnus of SRM University and Hochschule Bremen (Germany), was passionate about satellites and began building amateur satellite projects during college.

Teaming up with Abhay Egoor, a former ISRO engineer, and Narayan Prasad, co-founder of NewSpace India-focused think tank SatSearch, Dhruva was born out of a need to provide quicker, scalable access to space infrastructure.

From its headquarters in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli tech hub, Dhruva built out R&D, testing, and integration labs to support small satellite manufacturing — including CubeSats, NanoSats, and custom buses for LEO and Sun-synchronous orbits. The startup was quick to partner with ISRO and tapped into IN-SPACe to gain access to launchpads and test facilities, all while maintaining full in-house control over its design, integration, and testing cycles. 

Dhruva Space’s milestones:

• 2012 – Company idea conceived by Sanjay Nekkanti while studying aerospace in Germany

• 2019 – Official incorporation in Hyderabad; early team formed

• 2020 – Selected under IN-SPACe, India’s nodal agency for private sector integration into space

• 2022 – Launched first satellite deployers on PSLV-C53, demonstrating hardware in space

• 2023 – Successfully launched Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2, India’s first private satellites to reach orbit

• 2024 – Began offering satellite bus platforms and modular deployers to global clients 

The company’s breakout moment came in July 2022, when its proprietary satellite deployers — DSOD-1U and DSOD-3U — flew aboard ISRO’s PSLV-C53 mission. This demonstrated not just technical capability but also trust from the national space agency, marking a symbolic shift in India’s space policy openness.

In November 2023, Dhruva launched its own spacecraft — the Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2 — onboard PSLV-C54. These twin picosatellites were the first Indian private satellites to be built, integrated, tested, and operated entirely by a non-government company, opening the floodgates for similar private missions to follow.

The core strength of Dhruva Space lies in modularity and scalability. Instead of designing satellites as unique missions, they’ve developed reusable and configurable satellite buses that can be adapted quickly for communications, scientific payloads, or Earth observation purposes. Their technology stack includes deployers, satellite avionics, structural frames, solar arrays, batteries, and onboard computers — all built in-house.

The startup is also working on expanding its ground infrastructure, building ground stations across India and preparing to offer mission control as a service. This opens up opportunities not just for national users but also for international space tech companies looking for launch and operation support in Asia.

As India aims to capture 9% of the global space economy by 2030, Dhruva Space exemplifies the country’s push toward commercial viability and private innovation. With more missions planned in 2025–2026, including international collaborations, Dhruva is positioning itself as a globally competitive satellite systems provider from the Global South.

Their journey is more than a business success — it’s a symbol of India’s transformation from a launch-service provider to a comprehensive space product and service economy. Dhruva Space isn’t just reaching for the stars — it’s helping others do the same.

— Ritwaj Ranjan

About the Author.

Ritwaj Ranjan is a full-stack web and mobile applications software engineer from Bangalore, India, and, space news contributor to Interplanetary Television. With a strong foundation in frontend and backend development technologies, he has worked at Othor.ai and Bhopal. He has designed and deployed over 20 user-centric interfaces with React.js, resulting in a 30% increase in customer satisfaction scores. Ranjan has also led a team in website development, resulting in a 40% increase in client customization efficiency.