India's Private Space Mission Drishti Hit By Solar Storm, Satellite Communication Lost

India’s

private space startup GalaxEye has informed on Tuesday that communication with its Mission Drishti satellite has been lost after it experienced an anomaly during its early days in orbit. As per the company, the issue occurred during the final stage of the satellite’s Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) after a geomagnetic solar storm. While engineers are trying to re-establish contact, GalaxEye said the chances of recovering the spacecraft currently appear low.

Mission Completed Several Key Objectives Before Anomaly

Mission Drishti was launched on May 3, 2026, aboard a SpaceX mission. As per GalaxEye, it was the world’s first OptoSAR satellite, designed to combine optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging for Earth observation.The company revealed that the satellite successfully established communication after launch and completed a major part of its planned early orbit operations. During this period, it validated several important spacecraft systems, including deployment, attitude control, onboard computing and communication systems. It also demonstrated the company’s in-house mission operations capabilities from its Mission Control Centre in Bengaluru. GalaxEye stated that the problem surfaced during the final stage of LEOP following an extreme geomagnetic solar storm. In its initial investigation, the company found that radiation linked to the space weather event likely affected a critical onboard system. After the anomaly, the communication with the satellite became intermittent before contact was eventually lost.The company added that recovery efforts are still underway, but said the likelihood of restoring communication with the spacecraft is currently low.

Mission Still Delivered Valuable Results

Despite the setback, the space startup informed that it achieved several of its planned objectives during the weeks it remained operational. The company said the mission helped validate important technologies, operational processes and infrastructure needed to build and operate advanced satellites. It also strengthened customer confidence and demonstrated the demand for its Earth observation technology.