India’s private space industry has crossed a significant technological threshold with Azista Industries Private Limited successfully demonstrating the
ability to image an object in orbit from another satellite. Using its Earth-observation satellite AFR, the Hyderabad- and Ahmedabad-based firm captured images of the International Space Station, marking a first for an Indian private player. The achievement represents a critical step towards strengthening India’s space situational awareness capabilities. The experiment was conducted on February 3 during two carefully planned orbital passes. The AFR satellite, weighing just 80 kilograms, was tasked to track the fast-moving ISS under challenging near-horizon and sunlit conditions. According to Azista, the satellite successfully captured 15 distinct image frames across the two attempts, validating both sensor performance and indigenous tracking algorithms. In the first imaging pass, AFR observed the ISS from a distance of approximately 300 kilometres. The second attempt followed at a closer range of around 245 kilometres. Both exercises achieved 100 per cent mission success, with an imaging sampling resolution of roughly 2.2 metres, confirming the satellite’s electro-optical precision and real-time tasking capability.
Why Imaging The ISS Matters
While the ISS is a large and relatively cooperative target in low-Earth orbit, experts note that imaging it is an important proof-of-concept. Tracking a crewed space station requires precise prediction, rapid pointing, and stabilised imaging of a fast-moving object. Azista officials describe the exercise as the foundation for future monitoring of more complex or less cooperative orbital targets.
The capability demonstrated by AFR falls under non-Earth imaging, sometimes informally referred to as “in-orbit snooping.” In strategic terms, such capabilities form the backbone of Space Situational Awareness, which involves detecting, tracking, and understanding the behaviour of objects in space. As satellite congestion and competition increase, SSA has become a core requirement for spacefaring nations.
India today operates more than 50 satellites across communication, navigation, Earth observation, and strategic domains, collectively valued at over ₹50,000 crore. Protecting these assets requires timely awareness of other satellites’ proximity, manoeuvres, and intent, particularly during periods of geopolitical tension.
Private Sector Step Beyond ISRO
Until recently, advanced SSA and in-orbit tracking capabilities were largely demonstrated by national space agencies such as Indian Space Research Organisation. ISRO has showcased precision rendezvous and manoeuvring through experiments like SPADEX. Azista’s demonstration, however, signals a shift, with private industry beginning to operate in domains once dominated exclusively by governments.
Speaking after the experiment, Azista Managing Director Srinivas Reddy said AFR had validated fully indigenous algorithms, electro-optical systems, and satellite engineering. He noted that the same technologies underpin the company’s future non-Earth imaging and SSA payloads, enabling accurate characterisation of objects in orbit.
Brigadier Adarsh Bharadwaj, Executive Director at Azista, said the demonstration arrives at a critical time when space assets are increasingly vulnerable to interference, jamming, or close-approach operations. He described the ISS images as “first proof of what can be achieved in the future,” highlighting the strategic importance of observing activity in orbit.
AFR Satellite And What Comes Next
AFR itself is a milestone for India’s private space ecosystem. Launched on June 13, 2023 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 under the Transporter-8 mission, the satellite is the first in its size and performance class to be designed, built, and operated entirely by Indian private industry. It has completed roughly 2.5 years in orbit and continues to operate nominally, with a similar duration of mission life remaining.
Beyond SSA demonstrations, AFR already supports naval imaging, night imaging, and video imaging for civilian and defence customers worldwide. Azista says it is now developing next-generation indigenous payloads capable of imaging objects like the ISS at resolutions as fine as 25 centimetres from its upcoming electro-optical payload manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad.
While imaging the ISS may represent only an initial step, the achievement underscores a quiet but significant shift. India’s private space sector is beginning to enter a strategic domain, expanding the country’s ability not just to observe the Earth, but to watch, understand, and protect what happens above it.
