Will India’s smallest-ever satellite payload make way for a new way of observing Earth from orbit? The Hyderabad-based company EON Space Labs is ready to send MIRA, India’s smallest multispectral Earth observation payload, to orbit on board PSLV-C62 on 12 January 2026, a milestone for India’s private space sector.
A milestone launch for private space innovation:
EON Space Labs’ high-resolution multispectral imaging payload called MIRA is slated to fly on the PSLV-C62 mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The imaging payload is incorporated in the MOI-1 CubeSat, a 14 kg CubeSat developed by a company called TakeMe2Space based in
This mission will showcase for the first time in India an artificial intelligence orbitally imaging lab, where Earth observation data will be processed in near-real-time in orbit, thereby reducing significantly the need for downlink of large amounts of data.
Ultralight design and in-orbit processing by AI:
At the heart of the MOI-1 satellite is the MIRA. MIRA is an ultra-lightweight optical satellite that is completely of Indian design. MIRA is a monolithic fused silica satellite that aims for stability and resistance to vibrations while offering good imaging. This satellite is integrated with the onboard computing system of the MOI-1 satellite. Consequently, it enables artificial intelligence models to process images on the satellite.
In a statement concerning the mission, Sanjay Kumar, the Co-Founder of EON Space Labs, said: “The launch of MIRA onboard the MOI-1 mission marks the beginning of a new approach to Earth observation missions and their use. Traditional Earth observation missions entail the taking of pictures and the transmission of raw data to Earth. But this mission allows the satellites to make observations onboard.”
Democratising space-based intelligence :
MIRA has a mass of 502 grams, owing to which it provides multispectral imaging capability in the realm of nine bands, along with meeting NASA space-grade requirements. MOI-1 functions as an open AI lab in space, used for disaster relief, environment, or city analysis.
Ronak Samantray, the founder of TakeMe2Space, added, “MOI-1 is designed to democratize the ability to leverage data intelligence from space. Developers and companies will be able to execute Artificial Intelligence tasks in space without the requirement to own or operate a space-based system thanks to the imaging payload from EON Space Labs and our space-based compute platform.”
The PSLV-C62 mission, which also carries EOS-N1 (Anvesha), marks the continued support of the Indian Space Research Organization for the growing NewSpace industry in India.
