Thiruvananthapuram: HEX20, the Technopark-based spacetech startup that built India’s first private-sector rideshare satellite, has successfully launched its second satellite, KOYO, for Taiwan’s National Central University.
The HEX20 satellite was launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-17 mission, marking another milestone in the company’s expanding global satellite mission capabilities.
The HEX20 satellite KOYO (Kinetic Optical Yaw Observer) was deployed approximately an hour after reaching space.
Around 40 minutes after deployment, the company received its first beacon signals, which were decoded by the SatNOGS amateur satellite community, confirming successful initial communication with the spacecraft.
The latest mission follows HEX20’s successful launch of its maiden satellite Nila last year in partnership with Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX). Nila became Kerala’s first satellite developed by the private sector.
Speaking about the successful mission, Amal Chandran, Chief Executive Officer, HEX20, said: “KOYO represents another important step in establishing HEX20 as a trusted global satellite mission partner.
Each successful mission expands our flight heritage, strengthens the maturity of our platforms, and reinforces our ability to deliver end-to-end satellite missions with speed, reliability, and engineering excellence.
As demand for affordable and responsive access to space continues to grow, the company is committed to enabling governments, research institutions, and commercial organizations to transform ambitious ideas into successful space missions.”
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Providing an update on the satellite’s performance, Anurag Reghu, CTO & Co-Founder, HEX20, said: “KOYO has performed as designed on orbit with over 1,500 beacon packets decoded, 75+ commands successfully transmitted from the ground, and the satellite currently undergoing commissioning for nominal operational mode.”
He further added: “The payload operations are scheduled to commence sequentially in week two. KOYO carries Taiwan-based Aegiverse’s Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG), USA-based Amplified Space’s configurable power system, a digipeater for the amateur community from Taiwan and Taiwan-based ET Space Power solar cells qualified in a HEX20-built solar panel. So far, the ET Space Power solar cells have performed to specifications.”
According to Reghu, the HEX20 mission also demonstrated the company’s learning from its first satellite mission.
KOYO has successfully space-qualified HEX20’s solar panel deployment mechanisms, including a novel feedback mechanism, hinge design, deployable monopole rod antenna, and has further validated the company’s AX CubeSat platform.
Commenting on the achievement, Shri MB Aravind, Co-Founder & Director, HEX20, said the mission represents another significant milestone for the company.
“It’s been an exciting week for the HEX20 team providing validation for the hard work they have been putting in on simultaneous product development and mission execution. NILA, our first satellite, was a great learning experience.”
He further said: “Every challenge, the team met with an engineering answer, not a workaround, but a better way to fly. That’s what turned lessons into more reliable products.
Our second mission increases the product reliability and demonstrates our ability to deliver end-to-end satellite missions as a service for our customers, with satellites that perform on orbit.
We are grateful to IN-SPACe team for their continued support and guidance throughout the HEX20 journey.”
Looking ahead, HEX20 has scheduled six additional satellite missions over the next 12 months.
These include:
- NILA III, a CubeSat built to qualify UK-based OhmSpace’s propulsion system.
- SAISI, a ship identification satellite for National Central University in Taiwan.
- COSPAR-1, a collaborative space weather measurement satellite involving multiple global entities through COSPAR.
- Emirates Asteroid Mission Asteroid Impactor Probe.
The Emirates Asteroid Mission is designed to image and impact the asteroid Justitia while flying alongside the UAE’s Asteroid Mission. According to the company, the mission will travel farther than any MicroSat or CubeSat in human history.
In addition, HEX20 is preparing its proprietary MAYA-V1 and DINK-N1 missions as payload aggregator satellites carrying multiple customer payloads alongside the company’s own thermal and visible Earth imaging payloads.
These missions are expected to provide actionable Earth observation data for multiple applications.
HEX20 is Kerala’s first startup to partner with Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for launching a satellite. Its maiden satellite Nila was named after Kerala’s culturally significant river and the Technopark building where the company operates.
With operations across the United States, UAE and Taiwan, HEX20 has partnered with a domestic manufacturing network that supports ISRO missions.
The company develops payload-agnostic satellite platforms while offering satellite mission-as-a-service and payload hosting capabilities for in-orbit demonstrations to governments, research institutions and commercial customers worldwide.
