NEW DELHI: JANUS-1 satellite that rode on Isro’s new mini-rocket SSLV-D2 and reached its orbit successfully on Friday is the world’s first satellite fully conceived, designed and manufactured using an Indian company’s end-to-end cloud platform. Interestingly, the complete assembly, integration and test for JANUS-1 has been conducted in Bengaluru by Ananth Technologies Ltd (ATL).
JANUS-1 is a software defined 6U technology demonstration satellite designed and built using the Antaris cloud software platform and SatOSsoftware, as well as XDLinx’s modular spacecraft bus. ATL has also contributed various avionics subsystems for Isro’s earth observation satellite EOS-7 that was the main payload of SSLV-D2. From concept to launch readiness, JANUS-1 was designed and built in just 10 months at a cost saving of 75% over comparable satellite missions.
Speaking to TOI, ATL founder and CMD Subba Rao Pavuluri said, “The first cloud-based satellite means one can access the data of JANUS-1 satellite from the cloud of Antaris company. The cost and time savings that are achieved through this approach (of making JANUS-1) is immense and best in the industry. JANUS-1 carries five payloads, including IOT (internet of things) and communication systems. With our company’s facilities in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram, we have provided support systems to Isro in developing 88 satellites and 72 launch vehicles in the last 28 years.”

Subba Rao said his company’s new satellite centre in Bengaluru is a first-of-its-kind private facility in India and has the capacity to produce eight satellites weighing over 2 tonnes in 18 months and around 25-30 small satellites in just one month. “Besides supporting Isro, the company is also planning to develop its own constellation of earth observation satellites just like UK-based OneWeb is doing in the field of broadband satellites.”
He said that “Isro’s EOS-7 is a miniature version of Isro’s earth observation Cartosat satellite with all-weather capability (used by security agencies to keep eye on borders) as the government is planning to launch more and more mini satellites to meet its security and communication needs through the new mini-launcher SSLV”.
Antaris anticipates that future spacecraft missions can be ready for launch in as few as six months. While Friday’s launch marks the start of JANUS-1’s on-orbit mission, the satellite has been ‘in flight’ for months via the company’s unique TrueTwindigital twinning technology, which creates a digital version of the satellite at the start of the project and then integrates with hardware-in-the-loop as hardware becomes available.