Space! Didn’t our eyes light up and our curiosity soar when we first read about it as kids? Well, there is one startup that is just as fascinating. It wants to revolutionise access to space in an innovative way. TakeMe2Space is making space accessible to everyone by building the world’s first open Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite infrastructure — an AI lab in orbit.
Specialising in Made-in-India space technology products and on-orbit computing, TakeMe2Space is tackling data processing challenges right where the data is — in space. And it’s not just an idea; they have the backing to make it happen! This week, the company secured Rs 5.5 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Seafund. Their team walks us through the vision propelling them forward.
How spacetech looks in the years ahead
As the name suggests, TakeMe2Space is developing on-orbit computing infrastructure — essentially data centres in space. “We indigenously build satellites with AI computing capabilities. This infrastructure will initially serve the Earth observation industry. Our satellites will feature an imager (a camera) and an Nvidia-based AI accelerator, allowing anyone to upload AI models and process them directly in space,” explained Anand Rajagopalan, executive vice president, business strategy.
Driven by the vision of making space affordable and accessible to all, TakeMe2Space has been evolving rapidly since its inception in 2024. “Our mission is to build on-orbit compute infrastructure — or data centres in space — because we believe that the nearly unlimited demand for computing capacity, primarily driven by AI, requires a financially viable and environmentally sustainable option. Since in-space computing currently comes at a premium, we are initially entering the market through the Earth observation industry,” Anand added.
How the AI-powered satellite laboratory works
Anand revealed that their first two satellites, set to launch in 2025, will feature panchromatic and multispectral imagers along with AI accelerators. Users can access data, compute power, and orientation control through their web-based platform, OrbitLab.
Using OrbitLab, users can select their areas of interest (AOI) and execute AI inference models directly on the satellite. They also have custom control over the satellite’s orientation, enabling them to capture and analyse different aspects of their AOI. “Our platform, OrbitLab, provides users access to our Earth observation satellites via a web platform. The most unique aspect of OrbitLab is that developers don’t pay for the data captured by the satellite — they only pay for satellite time. At just $2 per minute, this pricing model has the potential to open up the industry beyond military and government use, reaching millions of space enthusiasts, researchers, and SMEs,” he elaborated.
Decoding the technology behind TakeMe2Space
MOI-TD, their tech demonstrator launched in December 2024, addresses a fundamental challenge in satellite operations — data transmission delays. Satellites capture petabytes of data daily, but transmitting this data to Earth for processing can take weeks. Additionally, some of this data may be unusable due to multiple factors.
MOI-TD demonstrated the ability to process data directly in space. Anand highlighted key innovations — radiation shielding, which enables the use of commercial off-the-shelf electronic components instead of expensive radiation-hardened ones, and indigenous subsystems, which are crucial for developing a new type of compute-first satellite while significantly reducing costs.
He said, “This mission has provided us with space-proven subsystems, valuable space data to refine our technology, and the ability to test three AI models from customers. It was a significant milestone, especially as it was our second mission within a year (while the first one was the Radiation Shielding Experimental Module - RSEM).”
Inspiration behind TakeMe2Space
When asked about their inspiration, Anand broke it down into two parts. Firstly, founder Ronak Kumar Samantray’s journey — after his startup NowFloats, which was later acquired by Reliance in 2019, space became the next exciting frontier. As a software developer, he wanted access to a satellite to deploy models and code but found that space infrastructure was inaccessible and space data prohibitively expensive. This inspired him to start a space company.
Secondly, the team members’ backgrounds. “When Ronak wanted to build and launch a satellite, he came to T-Works, where we were all working. Sharat Chander Reddy (executive vice president, products) led product development, Firoz Ahammad (executive vice president, rapid engineering) headed rapid prototyping, and I managed operations and later became CEO,” shared Anand, adding, “At T-Works, we supported multiple entrepreneurs in developing their products. Sharat and Firoz were intrigued by Ronak’s project — not only because of our mandate to help entrepreneurs but also because we were building something destined for space. Prior to this, we had worked on industrial automation, electric vehicles, and drone technology. The common thread? Space excited all of us.”
He added that he was particularly drawn to the business potential of making space accessible and affordable. “Over three years ago, we set out to make satellites more affordable and accessible — this was our initial premise,” noted Anand.
Their collective expertise in rapid prototyping — across both software and hardware — has enabled them to launch two missions within a year. They highlight learning from ISRO’s phenomenal work and building on it to drive innovation in space technology. Today, TakeMe2Space has grown into a robust team of over 17 engineers, who have experience in developing 15+ satellite sensors and subsystems.
Building credibility as new players in the space industry was and continues to be important. “That’s why our focus has been on proving the reliability of our satellite subsystems in space. This is where support from IN-Space and ISRO’s POEM platform was extremely helpful, allowing us to gain space heritage quickly and affordably,” Anand pointed out.
If you think TakeMe2Space is just about space, you are wrong — it’s about real-world impact. Anand shared an example: A team of researchers has developed an innovative AI model to detect oil spills off the coast. They used open datasets to develop the model but lacked the means to test its effectiveness in space or with live data. OrbitLab acts as a go-live or production environment where this team of researchers can upload their model and downlink the inferences to validate and improve their solution. Other use cases include defence, agriculture, and marine applications.
Achievements, future plans and collaborations
As of now, MOI-TD has successfully demonstrated AI execution in space by uplinking AI models from a ground station, executing external code on the satellite, and securely downlinking encoded and encrypted results. The mission also validated all critical subsystems, including sensors like the Sun Sensor, Horizon Sensor, Solar Cell, and IMUs, as well as actuators such as Magnetorquers, AirTorquers, and the Reaction Wheel. Additionally, the computing infrastructure, featuring the Zero Cube OBC, AI Accelerator, and POEM Adapter Board, proved its capability by executing multiple real-time processing tasks, enabling on-orbit Earth observation data processing.
By the end of 2025, TakeMe2Space plans to have two indigenously built satellites in orbit, optimised for Earth observation and space research, with an ambitious goal of expanding to a 10-satellite constellation by 2030. The pre-seed funds raised will be used towards the launch of MOI-1 — India’s first AI-laboratory in space. Their strategic partnerships with GIS companies focus on developing affordable real-time inferencing solutions, while their involvement in the NVIDIA Inception programme provides direct engineering support for AI Cube development.
With TakeMe2Space pushing the frontiers of spacetech — making it more affordable and more accessible — the sky is no longer the limit. It’s just the beginning!