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Spacetech firm XDLINX Space Labs has bagged $7 million in a seed round led by Ashish Kacholia of Lucky Investments, with participation from E2MC, Mana Ventures, and an undisclosed family office.

The Hyderabad firm plans to use the funds to accelerate the manufacturing of next-generation payloads for defence and commercial missions, including E-band communications, optical and RF intelligence, satellite bus platform operationalisation, and expand its global presence in the US and UK.

“We envision a future where space becomes more accessible by building cost-effective satellites using 75% indigenous subsystems. We look forward to contributing to India’s growing role in the global space race,” Rupesh Gandupalli, Co-founder and CEO of XDLINX Space Labs, said in a statement.

Founded in 2022, XDLINX Space Labs began with a vision to redefine space missions and make innovative satellite technology accessible to a wider array of clients.

The company achieved a major milestone with the successful launch of JANUS-1, a software-defined 6U nanosatellite, demonstrating multi-tenancy payload capabilities. Developed in just 10 months, it was launched aboard ISRO’s SSLV-D2 rocket on February 10, 2023.

The spacetech firm is currently gearing up to launch its next major project, Elevation-1, which will feature a miniaturised space-grade E-band payload, developed for launch aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission.

The Hyderabad company is developing a 150 kg class satellite equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and multi-spectral optical sensors using the XDSAT-M600 platform, scheduled for launch in Q3 2025.

XDLINX’s funding comes amid increasing interest in the country’s space sector, where the Indian Space Research Organisation is actively supporting the growth of startups in the space economy.

Meanwhile, the government has announced a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund to support India’s growing space economy.

Recently, GalaxEye Space, which develops multi-sensor imaging satellites combining optical and radar technologies for continuous, all-weather Earth observation, raised $6.5 million in Series A funding.