Bengaluru-based Kepler Aerospace will develop a six-satellite swarm intelligence system under an iDEX contract to support India’s Defence Space Agency (DSA). The swarm, expected to be operational by late 2027, will autonomously monitor threats from space, functioning like a coordinated beehive without human control.
In a groundbreaking development, Kepler Aerospace, a Bengaluru-based space technology company, has secured an iDEX (Innovation for Defence Excellence) contract to build a constellation of autonomous ISR satellites for the Defence Space Agency (DSA), a tri-services wing of the Indian Armed Forces.
The project, announced on July 8, 2025, involves a six-satellite swarm that will mimic the operations of a beehive—each satellite acting independently while collaborating in real-time to track radio signals, heat signatures, and suspicious orbital movements. These satellites will require no ground-based command once deployed, relying entirely on artificial intelligence and autonomous decision-making.
According to Navneet Singh, Founder and CEO of Kepler Aerospace, the satellite swarm will be launched in two phases by the end of 2027—two satellites in early 2027 and four more in the latter half of the year.
“This constellation will act like a beehive, where every satellite is an independent node but works as part of a whole,” said Singh in an interview with Moneycontrol. He added that the system’s autonomy ensures faster response times and less dependency on ground stations.
The ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) capability of the satellites is expected to transform India’s space situational awareness. These high-speed orbiters will complete full coverage within 90 minutes, ensuring real-time monitoring of space threats such as adversarial satellites, missiles, or unauthorized incursions.
The initiative is a significant boost to India’s defence modernization goals under the iDEX platform, which aims to foster innovation by engaging start-ups and MSMEs in the defence sector.
Kepler joins a growing list of Indian firms reshaping the future of defence tech with autonomous, AI-enabled systems.
