Satellites & Earth observation
XDLINX Space Labs
Hyderabad smallsat maker whose Elevation-1 carried what Almagest calls the first miniaturised E-band payload to orbit in January 2025; it raised $7 million in October 2024.
XDLINX Space Labs is a Hyderabad satellite maker that sells nano- and microsatellite missions as a service: it supplies the bus, integrates the customer's payload, qualifies the spacecraft and runs the mission. The company was founded in 2022 and lists two co-founders — Rupesh Gandupalli, its chief executive, and Karthik Govindhasamy, its executive chairman — both of whom it says came from Planet Labs; its team page also names Rajasekhar Kallepalli as chief operating officer. Its first spacecraft, the 6U nanosatellite Janus-1, was built in ten months and flew on ISRO's SSLV-D2 from Sriharikota on 10 February 2023, sharing the ride with EOS-07 and AzaadiSAT-2. XDLINX markets a bus ladder running from the XDSAT NS and NL nanosatellite classes up to the XDSAT M200, M400 and M600, and says Janus-1 came in 75% cheaper than a traditional satellite, a company figure it has not supported with published costs.
Its most visible flight hardware is Elevation-1, a demonstration satellite XDLINX built for the American operator Almagest Space Corporation. XDLINX supplied both the spacecraft and what Almagest calls the first miniaturised, space-grade E-band communications payload flown in orbit, using parts from Filtronic, Flann and IQ Wireless, with Antaris providing the mission software and Ananth Technologies doing assembly, integration and test; SatNews reported the satellite went from kick-off to delivery in nine months. It launched on SpaceX's Transporter-12 rideshare from Vandenberg on 14 January 2025. That was later than planned: when the two companies announced the deal in February 2024 they put the demonstration flight in mid-to-late 2024 and the follow-on commercial TwinStar mission in 2025 to 2026, and by the January 2025 launch TwinStar had moved to 2026 to 2027.
The company has been buying the test infrastructure it once had to borrow. On 2 May 2026 it opened an Advanced Space Systems Integration and Testing Lab in Hyderabad, inaugurated by ISRO chairman V. Narayanan, whose kit includes optical benches for payload apertures up to 450 mm, an attitude determination and control laboratory with an air-bearing platform and a Helmholtz coil, an electrical power system test bench for battery qualification, and clean rooms for spacecraft between 10 kg and 300 kg. In December 2025 it had signed with the GMR Group for a 60,000 sq ft research and development site at GMR Aerospace Park in Hyderabad, to include a 10,000 sq ft clean room for assembly, integration and testing, which the company expects to be operational in 2027.
Most of the order book has yet to fly. At the May 2026 opening XDLINX said it was contracted to deliver a 15-satellite sovereign constellation within two years, and that a 190 kg-class satellite carrying multispectral optical and synthetic-aperture radar payloads was booked on a SpaceX Transporter mission in late 2026 — a slip from October 2024, when it said a 150 kg-class satellite on its XDSAT-M600 platform, with the same sensor pairing, would launch in the third quarter of 2025. In June 2026 the company said a largely self-funded imaging satellite would fly on ISRO's SSLV in the last quarter of 2026, with a collaborative mission carrying partners' payloads in the first quarter of 2027, subject to rocket availability. A synthetic-aperture radar satellite pairing Sisir Radar's L-band payload with an XDLINX bus, announced in May 2025 as India's first private L-band SAR mission, is targeted for 2027, and in February 2026 the French supplier Exotrail said XDLINX had ordered 16 of its spaceware micro thrusters for delivery by 2027, a second order after a demonstration mission.
What they build and operate
- Janus-1 · Satellite
6U nanosatellite built in ten months and launched on ISRO's SSLV-D2 on 10 February 2023, the company's first spacecraft.[9][5][14][8] - Elevation-1 · Satellite
Demonstration satellite built for Almagest Space Corporation, launched on SpaceX's Transporter-12 on 14 January 2025 carrying an E-band communications payload.[2][10] - E-band communications payload · Component
Miniaturised space-grade E-band payload built by XDLINX using components from Filtronic, Flann and IQ Wireless, first flown on Elevation-1.[2] - XDSAT platform family · Platform
Satellite bus range the company markets, spanning the XDSAT NS and NL nanosatellite classes and the XDSAT M200, M400 and M600 microsatellite classes.[14] - Sovereign ISR constellation · Constellation · Announced
Contracted 15-satellite constellation the company said in May 2026 it would deliver within two years.[1][3] - L-band SAR satellite with Sisir Radar · Satellite · In development
Sisir Radar's L-band synthetic-aperture radar payload on an XDLINX bus, targeted for 2027 and, according to the two companies' May 2025 announcement, India's first private L-band SAR satellite.[11]
Funding
Milestones
- 2022
Founded in Hyderabad by Rupesh Gandupalli and Karthik Govindhasamy.[14][13][5] - 10 February 2023
Janus-1, the company's first satellite and built in ten months, launched on ISRO's SSLV-D2 from Sriharikota alongside EOS-07 and AzaadiSAT-2.[8][9][14] - 15 February 2024
Announced an agreement with Almagest Space Corporation to build, launch and operate the XDSAT-NS satellite with an E-band payload, then targeting a demonstration flight in mid-to-late 2024.[10] - October 2024
Raised $7 million in seed funding led by Ashish Kacholia, with E2MC, Mana Ventures and an unnamed family office.[9][5] - 14 January 2025
Elevation-1 launched on SpaceX's Transporter-12 from Vandenberg, roughly six months after the mid-to-late 2024 demonstration date the partners announced in February 2024.[2][10] - 26 May 2025
Announced a partnership with Sisir Radar for what the two companies call India's first private L-band SAR satellite, targeted for 2027.[11] - 22 December 2025
Signed with the GMR Group for a 60,000 sq ft satellite research and development facility at GMR Aerospace Park, Hyderabad, expected to be operational in 2027.[12] - 17 February 2026
Exotrail said XDLINX had placed a second propulsion order, for 16 spaceware micro units to be delivered by 2027.[7] - 02 May 2026
Opened the Advanced Space Systems Integration and Testing Lab in Hyderabad, inaugurated by ISRO chairman V. Narayanan.[1][3] - 02 May 2026
Said its 190 kg-class optical and SAR satellite would fly on a SpaceX Transporter mission in late 2026; in October 2024 the company had put the same sensor pairing, on its 150 kg-class XDSAT-M600 platform, in the third quarter of 2025.[1][5] - 24 June 2026
Said a largely self-funded imaging satellite would fly on ISRO's SSLV in the last quarter of 2026, with a collaborative multi-payload mission in the first quarter of 2027 subject to rocket availability.[4]
Facilities
- Advanced Space Systems Integration and Testing Lab · Hyderabad, Telangana
Opened 2 May 2026 with optical benches for payload apertures up to 450 mm, an attitude determination and control lab with an air-bearing platform and Helmholtz coil, an electrical power system test lab, and clean rooms for spacecraft between 10 kg and 300 kg.[1][3] - GMR Aerospace Park research and development facility · Hyderabad, Telangana
Planned 60,000 sq ft site with a 10,000 sq ft assembly, integration and testing clean room, announced in December 2025 and expected to be operational in 2027.[12]
Leadership
- Rupesh Gandupalli
Co-founder and chief executive officer (as of 17 February 2026)[7][13] - Karthik Govindhasamy
Co-founder (as of 07 October 2024)[6][13]
Sources
SatNewsXDLINX Space Labs Inaugurates Advanced Satellite Integration Lab with ISRO Leadershipsatnews.com
SatNewsAlmagest Space successful launch + deployment of their ELEVATION-1 E-Band satellitesatnews.com
Indian Defence NewsXDLINX Space Labs Opens Advanced Satellite Integration Facility With ISRO Leadershipindiandefensenews.in
Indian Defence NewsSwitchable Satellite: India's Space Utility Belt Arrivesindiandefensenews.in
The Fast ModeXDLINX Space Labs Raises $7M to Accelerates Space Innovation with New Satellite Platformsthefastmode.com
Inc42Spacetech Startup XDLINK Space Labs Raises $7 Mn From Ashish Kacholia, Othersinc42.com
Exotrail announcementExotrail signs a second propulsion contract with XDLINX Space Labsexotrail.com
WikipediaSSLV-D2en.wikipedia.org
PR NewswireSpace tech firm XDLINX Space Labs raises $7 million in seed round led by Ashish Kacholia with additional backing from E2MC and Mana Venturesprnewswire.com
XDLINX Space LabsXDLINX Labs join forces with Almagest Space Corporationxdlinx.space
XDLINX Space LabsXDLINX Space Labs and Sisir Radar to Launch India's First Private L-Band SAR Satellite, Pioneering a New Era in Earth Observationxdlinx.space
XDLINX Space LabsXDLINX Space Labs Signs an agreement to realise its Satellite R&D Facility at GMR Aerospace Parkxdlinx.space
XDLINX Space LabsTeamxdlinx.space
XDLINX Space LabsOfficial sitexdlinx.space
LinkedInXDLINX Space Labs company pagein.linkedin.com
TracxnXDLINX — 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding, Competitors & Financialstracxn.com
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