Congress Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday was named as co-chairman of the party’s campaign committee for the upcoming Kerala assembly polls, ending all rumours of a rift between him and the top leadership. While Tharoor is co-chairman
The shooting, which occurred around 9:15 p.m. inside a room at the Hugine Suites complex, prompted university officials to place the campus on lockdown for about eight hours overnight. School officials later canceled classes and campus activities through Monday and said that counseling services for
Congress won a landslide in the 2026 Telangana Municipal Elections, securing 1,526 wards and 5 corporations. See the ward-wise tally for BRS and BJP, and how CM Revanth Reddy’s ‘Vision 2047’ fueled the urban sweep. The results of the February 2026 urban local body elections have changed the
A Supreme Court report by Barrister Salman Safdar reveals PTI leader Imran Khan's vision drop from normal (6x6) to 15% in his right eye due to CRVO. A court-appointed report submitted to the Supreme Court has drawn attention to the worsening eyesight of former Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi
I am often hesitant to say I love the colour red. Being a Malayali, many joke that it reveals my (non-existent) Communist leanings. Being dark skinned, others warn me to skip it in my wardrobe. But for me it’s the colour of manjadikuru, the lucky red seeds I used to collect in my grandmother’s
Space domain awareness, autonomous satellites, data centres in orbit - AI opens up brave new world
India is embracing artificial intelligence for space. AI helps track space debris, preventing collisions with satellites. Companies are using AI for Earth observation, analyzing vast imagery data. Autonomous satellite operations are becoming a reality. AI is also enhancing geospatial readiness and satellite communications. This technology is shaping India's growing space economy.
New Delhi: A tiny piece of junk may be harmless on Earth, but even the slightest impact from such debris hurtling through space at high speed can prove fatal for a spacecraft.
There are more than a million such objects of one centimetre in size and bigger orbiting the Earth, tracked continuously by experts to prevent collision accidents that can put a billion-dollar space mission in jeopardy.
Space engineers in India and across the world are using artificial intelligence to track more than a million orbits of such debris to determine their possible collision with active satellites and space assets.
"There have been a lot of cases where at least per year, we have seen more than 15 conjunction, close proximity warnings for a single 50-kg satellite," Anirudh Sharma, founder and CEO of Digantara Industries, told PTI.
Digantara specialises in the area of space situational awareness, which means keeping a track of objects orbiting in space that include active and defunct satellites, remnants of disintegrated satellites and even asteroids that zip past in space.
"When we do space domain awareness, we primarily track objects. It is important for us to know where this object will be, let's say, seven days later, for which we currently use statistical models because they are proven and have been adopted for ages," he said.
Sharma said on the analytic side, Digantara has designed a software for a space domain awareness application, which uses AI to primarily assess any changes, patterns or violations of objects in orbit.
"As orbital congestion rises, India's emerging focus on space situational awareness and debris monitoring underscores why trustworthy AI is now a safety imperative, not a nice-to-have," Lt Gen A K Bhatt (retd), Director General of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said.
Pixxel Space, the Bengaluru-based start-up building a constellation of Earth observation satellites, has been using AI to sift through the vast space imagery data it collects from satellites.
"I think artificial intelligence is very well suited to a data set like satellite imagery because there are petabytes and petabytes of this data that no human can possibly sit down and go through," Awais Ahmed, founder and CEO of Pixxel Space, told PTI.
He said AI models can go through all data and monitor the minutest of changes that are taking place to ensure better action on issues relating to areas as diverse as border security, agricultural farms, yield of crops, oil and gas leaks or sources of pollution.
Ahmed said Pixel has an AI platform called Aurora, where several models are already built in to make sure that a combination of four data sets -- very high resolution data, hyperspectral data, SAR data and multisspectral data -- can be combined to provide a holistic view.
He said advances in the field of AI have also made it possible to shift data centres to space-based platforms.
"Being able to just put GPUs and compute on satellites and launch quite a few of them and utilise the free solar power that you get there, we could take images of a certain area, completely analysed in orbit and only the report or the insight can be downlinked," Ahmed said.
Digantara's Sharma believes that AI certainly will benefit a lot of space applications that are happening all across the world at this point in time.
"One of the things that we are very keen on is autonomous satellite operations, which means if there is debris or an active satellite coming close to you, it should automatically learn that there is an object within a certain vicinity and then tend to avoid a collision," he said.
Digantara is working on the use of an algorithm that can be fed onto its next bunch of satellites, enabling them to communicate with each other and apply some concepts of autonomous satellite operations.
"It will definitely become a reality in the next five years because autonomous satellite operations will be key to ensuring the sustainability in the orbits that the satellites are being operated at this point in time," Sharma said.
GIS technology firm Esri India is integrating AI into GIS applications, which are crucial for building the country's geospatial and AI readiness.
"Our new GIS and AI Competency Centre in Noida, backed by an investment of Rs 150 crore, brings together AI specialists, data scientists, and GIS experts to develop intelligent solutions that empower our customers to extract richer insights from complex geospatial data, automate routine workflows, and make faster, more informed decisions," Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India, said.
Kumar said AI represents the future, and through collaborative efforts in building capabilities and nurturing talent, India can establish a strong global footprint in AI-driven geospatial innovation.
"Our algorithms automate imagery classification, filter low-quality data like cloud cover and detect subtle changes in terrain or infrastructure over time," Rupesh Kumar, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Suhora Technologies, said.
He said the firm is also building predictive models that help users anticipate trends and guide future action, not just understand what has already happened.
"Our mission is to simplify complex space analytics and make satellite intelligence accessible, scalable and actionable for every sector," said Kumar.
Lt Gen A K Bhatt said AI was fast becoming the operating layer of India's space economy, helping companies design smarter missions, run spacecraft more autonomously and turn raw space data into real-world decisions at scale.
"AI is rapidly reshaping the space and satcom sector from connectivity to cognitive infrastructure. In satellite communications, the biggest change is that networks are starting to learn from their own telemetry, using machine learning to spot anomalies early, predict congestion and service degradation, and automate troubleshooting so availability improves even as traffic and complexity rise," Gautam Sharma, Managing Director, Viasat India, said.
Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
Source: EconomicTimes
Related Posts: Space sector to be important contributor to future growth of India's economy Why does Elon Musk want to put AI data centers in space Private players contributing to space sector growth Indian space sector to account for 8-10% of $1 Data Centres In Space Musk vows to put data centers in space and run them on solar power but experts have their doubts The International Space Station era ends Space to be most cost-effective hub for AI ISRO chief says Indian space programme rooted in international cooperation rather than competition Astrome, Azista, Dhruva Space to build satellite bus platforms under IN-SPACe scheme
An Indian man accused of plotting to kill a Sikh separatist leader in New York City has pleaded guilty to three criminal charges in a federal court. Nikhil Gupta, 54, admitted to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering
1 minutes ago
Anand Sagar Chopra, son of legendary Ramayan creator Ramanand Sagar, passed away in Mumbai on February 13, 2026, after battling Parkinson's disease. Mumbai : Anand Ramanand Sagar Chopra, son of the legendary filmmaker Ramanand Sagar, is no more. He breathed his last in Mumbai on February 13, 2026
1 minutes ago
The Gauhati High Court has approved the Maa Kamakhya Temple Access Corridor project, dismissing any legal challenges to its construction. The court emphasized that the project will respect the sanctity of underground holy springs. With no further grounds for objection
1 minutes ago
Tamil superstar Dhanush has landed in legal trouble. A production house named Thenandal Films has sent a legal notice to him, demanding compensation of Rs 20 crore over alleged delays linked to a long-pending film project. As reported by Times Now
1 minutes ago
Sunny Deol has hinted that the title of Lahore 1947 may be changed, while confirming the film’s theatrical release during Independence Day week in August 2026. Mumbai: Actor Sunny Deol, who is basking in the success of 'Border 2', has loads of other projects lined up this year
1 minutes ago
New Delhi: With an aim to ease the travel rush during Holi, the Modi government has decided to run special trains. This will help the passengers facing heavy congestion while returning home. As per the Indian Railways, the special Holi trains will run from Lucknow to several major stations
1 minutes ago
Prime Minister Modi has inaugurated Seva Teerth, the new PMO address. Discover what happens to South Block as it becomes the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum—the world's largest museum on Raisina Hill. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has officially inaugurated Seva Teerth
1 minutes ago
The Congress has continued its electoral winning streak in Telangana for the fourth consecutive time in the past two years, reinforcing its growing political dominance since it wrested power from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the 2023 Assembly elections
1 minutes ago
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will soon release the result for the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) exam. If reports are to be trusted, the result is expected to be released today, on February 13. NTA, however, has not announced any particular date and time for releasing CMAT result and
1 minutes ago
The Supreme Court on Friday (February 13, 2026) laid down that telecom service providers (TSPs) do not own spectrum, a precious and finite public resource meant to be used for the common good of all, and cannot include it among their pool of “assets” for insolvency or liquidation
1 minutes ago
The Arizona sheriff leading the investigation into the abduction of U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie’s elderly mother says the biggest clue by far in the nearly two weeks since she vanished is the video of a masked prowler tampering with her doorbell camera
1 minutes ago
Reality show drama seems to have taken a serious turn on The 50, as contestant Arbaz Patel has reportedly been asked to leave the competition following a physical altercation with Prince Narula. The controversy centres on an argument that allegedly escalated into violence after remarks made about
1 minutes ago
It has been smooth sailing for Argentine Federico Agustin Gomez as he eased past Kazakhstan’s Denis Yevseyev 6-3, 6-4 in a round-of-eight match for his third straight-win in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger at the SDAT Tennis Stadium here on Friday. The lanky 29-year-old
1 minutes ago
The latest edition of the quarterly report places a thematic focus on India’s electronics trade, examining the country’s export performance across categories and its participation in the global electronics value chain. Sahoo said the global electronics market is valued at USD 4.6 trillion
1 minutes ago
Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya has made his ladylove Mahieka Sharma’s Valentine’s Day even more special. He has inked his girlfriend’s initial ‘M’ inked on the back of his neck. Created at Aliens Tattoo by celebrity tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali and executed by lead artist Tushar Marane
1 minutes ago
US President Donald Trump on Saturday reiterated his claim of ending eight wars in 10 months, but called the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict a “mess," saying progress toward peace would require cooperation from both sides. Speaking at a public event
1 minutes ago
The scheme works alongside the EPF and EPS benefits and does not require any separate premium payment from employees. New Delhi: Employees enrolled with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) are automatically covered under the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme
1 minutes ago
A report accessed by News18 suggests a calculated effort by Pakistan’s military establishment to inflict permanent physical damage on the PTI founder CNN-News18 has accessed a harrowing medical report submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan
1 minutes ago
Tu Yaa Main box office day 1: Featuring Shanaya Kapoor and Adarsh Gourav in key roles, Tu Yaa Main released in cinemas on 13 February 2026, just a day ahead of Valentine’s Day. Tu Yaa Main box office collection day 1: The survival thriller starring Shanaya Kapoor and Adarsh Gourav hit theatres
1 minutes ago
Ola Electric Q3FY26 Results: Electric vehicle (EV) maker Ola Electric Mobility on Friday reported a narrower year-on-year consolidated net loss for the December quarter (Q3FY26), even as revenues came under sharp pressure due to a steep decline in scooter sales
1 minutes ago
Schools are not just places where children learn mathematics, science and languages. They are supposed to be the institutions where values, discipline and emotional strength must also be taught. While most institutions focus on academic excellence
1 minutes ago
Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta on Friday pleaded guilty in a plot to assassinate a Khalistani separatist in New York in a case United States officials allege is linked to an Indian government employee. Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire
1 minutes ago
The rules-based world order "no longer exists", the German Chancellor has warned at a major security summit. Opening the annual Munich Security Conference, Friedrich Merz told other world leaders that "our freedom is not guaranteed" in an era of big power politics
1 minutes ago
Gold Rate Today: Gold prices fluctuate as rates dip, MCX futures rise, and experts cite global cues, US CPI data, and volatility driving bullion markets. Gold Rate Today: Gold prices are once again on the move, keeping traders and jewellery buyers on edge. While domestic bullion markets saw a dip
1 minutes ago
Indian national Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court on Friday for his role in a foiled plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh separatist leader residing in New York. 54-year-old Gupta’s change of plea marks a dramatic turn
1 minutes ago
Two immigration agents may have made "untruthful statements" in sworn testimony about the shooting of a migrant in Minneapolis last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said. ICE acting director Todd Lyons said the two officers, who have not been named
1 minutes ago
India’s aviation authority has levied a Rs 1 crore fine on Air India due to an Airbus being operated eight times without a valid airworthiness permit. India’s aviation regulator has imposed a Rs 1 crore penalty on Air India after an Airbus aircraft was allegedly operated multiple times without
1 minutes ago
