Space tech cos power up hiring engines

BENGALURU: Space tech startups are ramping up hiring across engineering, research and development (R&D), manufacturing and operations, driven by increasing government demand, private investment and commercial deployments, as India’s push to become a major player in the sector takes flight.Firms including Digantara, Skyroot Aerospace, InspeCity Space Labs, Dhruva Space, Astrome Technologies, Agnikul Cosmos, Garuda Aerospace, SatSure, Pixxel, Bellatrix Aerospace and Catalyx are increeasing their headcount, according to industry executives and search firms. Hiring momentum has picked up as space-based surveillance and early-warning programmes move from pilot projects to long-term contracts and round-the-clock operations. A booming satellite industry, declining launch costs and advances such as reusable rocket technology are further accelerating demand for skilled talent.All-round Scale-upDemand spreads across the space, satellite and drone ecosystems.Digantara, which recently raised $50 million (about `450 crore) in a Series B round, is transitioning from a pureplay space situational awareness company to a vertically integrated satellite systems player.“As we scale our space and ground-based sensing infrastructure, and expand our presence in the US and Europe, we plan to hire aggressively across core technical functions,” said Anirudh Sharma, CEO, Digantara Industries. “We are strengthening teams in spacecraft hardware engineering, infrared and sensor capabilities, and mission operations.”SatSure is hiring across computer vision science, applied data science, machine learning research, optical engineering, satellite image processing and thermal engineering.126456479Bellatrix Aerospace is planning a 25% expansion of its workforce amid increasing demand for production engineers and talent in electronics, propulsion, structural and systems engineering.“Having successfully spacequalified our core propulsion units, we have moved beyond the proof-of-concept phase into the commercialisation stage,” said Yashas Karanam, co-founder of Bellatrix Aerospace.“Our immediate priority is scaling to meet the aggressive deployment schedules of global satellite constellations,” he added.R&D remains central to hiring strategies, enabling innovation while reducing dependence on imports.At SatSure, nearly half of the new hires will be in reseaerch and development roles, said the company’s co-founder Prateep Basu.OVERSEAS EXPANSIONGaruda Aerospace is recruiting researchers and engineers in artificial intelligence (AI)-based perception, autonomous navigation, advanced materials, propulsion systems, energy optimisation and indigenous component development.The company is also hiring for roles across unmanned aerial vehicle design, avionics, embedded systems, battery systems, computer vision, autonomy, flight testing and manufacturing quality.“Rising VC (venture capital) funding and strategic partnerships are enabling us to accelerate product development, indigenise critical components and expand internationally,” said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder of Garuda Aerospace.Senior talent with experience in embedded software, onboard computing, hardware design and data platforms is in high demand as startups scale up operations.Dhruva Space, which has a confirmed pipeline of 18 satellites to be executed over the next three years, is strengthening teams across engineering, manufacturing, integration and operations.“On the technical side, we are seeing increasing demand for specialised skills across advanced waveforms for on-orbit satellite communications, imagery data processing and analytics, IoT payloads and end-to-end mission systems,” said Sanjay Nekkanti, chief executive, Dhruva Space.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/rGtXcbo