Dhruva Space to collaborate with Sodern Group of France for next payload mission

Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space, a full stack space engineering solution provider, has announced a strategic partnership with France-based Sodern ArianeGroup, a global leader in optical and inertial instrumentation for space and defence sectors, and a subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space, on Thursday.

Sodern will be deploying its next generation ‘HORUS’ star tracker on a Dhruva Space hosted payload mission scheduled for launch in 2026, as per a press release. The HORUS payload will be integrated into the Dhruva Space’s indigenously developed P-30 nano-satellite platform featuring a modular bus architecture.

The payload features an advanced APS – Active Pixel Sensor, space detector tailored for telecom platforms, providing autonomous and high precision attitude sensing capabilities. The firm’s radiation hardened Auriga start tracker has also been chosen for Dhruva Space’s preferred attitude determination solution for the upcoming satellite missions.

Dhruva Space’s satellite structure and mission critical sub-systems including avionics, power systems and others were space qualified through the Launching Expeditions for Aspiring Payloads (LEAP) or LEAP-TD mission abroad ISRO’s PSLV-C58 Orbital Experimental Module launch (POEM) in 2024.

“Sodern’s flight proven systems combined with our modular satellite architecture will enable faster, reliable mission deployment”, said Dhruva Space CEO & co-founder Sanjay Nekkanti. “Our Auriga star tracker with a legacy of 1,800 units in operation is specifically designed to reduce costs while offering excellent technical performance and reliability,” said chairman and CEO Vincent Dedieu, the release added.

Published - June 05, 2025 07:07 pm IST