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Soumya Misra

At the inaugural “India Sweden Space and Geospatial Business Summit” organised by the Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC) and Geospatial World Chamber of Commerce (GWCC), in Stockholm on 13th December 2023, in the presence of the Indian Ambassador to Sweden, Tanmaya Lal, Sisir Radar’s CEO and co-founder, Soumya Misra was invited to share his thoughts on “Collaboration in Space”.

Here’s what Soumya Misra had to say:

“At Sisir Radar, we are creating cutting-edge Synthetic Aperture Radars for space-borne and air-borne platforms. In our short existence of a year and a half, a significant achievement has been the development of an L-band SAR with better than 1-meter resolution imagery, tested multiple times on a UAV platform. We’re now scaling up to build L+P band SAR satellites for the Indian government. Our ethos emphasizes collaboration and synergy, believing in the necessity of working with like-minded companies and space research organizations across sectors and geographies.

India provides an ideal development and testing ground for remote sensing due to its diverse geography. From colder regions to hotter ones, from incessant rain to desert-like conditions, India offers a variety of terrains for testing and calibrating different sensors, making it a favourable location for global collaboration in space-borne and air-borne sensor development.

In our brief time, we’ve established partnerships with companies specializing in electro-optical and infrared sensors and drone development. As we progress towards satellite missions, we are actively seeking collaborations for satellite bus and launch partners. This collaborative spirit is ingrained in the space industry, a model exemplified by ISRO in India, where companies have scaled up by delivering subsystems to ISRO and building a market economy around it.

In navigating market dynamics, we often find ourselves playing finite games, aiming for specific wins. But then there are infinite games, where the goal is to keep the game going. Space, with all its infinite vastness, serves as a poetic reminder of this. To conquer it, we need to figure out how to keep playing. This calls for collaboration that benefits everyone. Looking ahead, with the liberalization of space policy, we anticipate exponential growth in this collaborative ecosystem.”