'Want To Take Everybody's Ideas To Space'

'To access our satellite, you don't need any IQ test, you don't need to write an examination.'
'You can be a Class 1 student, an engineering student, a 60-year-old person, anybody can access our satellite.'

When ISRO's PSLV C60 launched the satellite MOI-TD (My Orbital Infrastructure Technology Demonstrator) into space from Sriharikota on December 30, 2024, it launched India's first AI laboratory in space.

It is the first satellite as a service platform for anyone and everyone who is interested in space.

The start-up behind this AI lab in space is the Hyderabad-based TakeMe2Space.

"Our satellite is not just a normal satellite with camera, sensor etc, it has capabilities to run large AI models. You can write AI algorithms to test AI based experiments in orbit. That's why we call it an AI lab in space," Ronak Kumar Samantray, CEO and Founder of TakeMe2Space, explains to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.

Every child looks up at the sky and dreams of going to space. Was that also a dream of yours? Is such a dream behind you naming your start up TakeMe2Space?

Of course. While growing up, every child wants to be an astronaut. Every child wants to look up and wants to go to the stars.

Somehow, our education system makes us feel that we can't be as the myths around space is that you have to be extremely smart, you have to be a science student, you have to be part of an elite organisation to be a part of space.

Somewhere on the line, you stop believing in your dream, and drop the idea of becoming an astronaut.

I finished my engineering in computer science in 2008 and joined Microsoft. That was how I moved from Bhubaneswar to Hyderabad. Ever since, I am in love with the city of Hyderabad.

So, when did the entrepreneur bug bite you? Or was becoming an entrepreneur a dream of yours?

No, it was not my dream to be an entrepreneur. But to build something millions of people can use was a dream of mine.

I didn't have any financial responsibilities as my parents were professionals. So, I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted.

I didn't want to repent when I would be 50 or 60 that I wish I had tried.

2011 was a kind of apps era and people also were getting used to this.

As a coder, I felt I could also make a difference. And I left Microsoft after working there for three years and decided to build something.

To build something from scratch, bring in a change and make a difference excited me. That was how I became an entrepreneur.

My first start up was Now Floats, which had three other co-founders.

It was a SaaS based start-up and our product was to make running a business easier for small businesses.

By 2019, we had presence across 45 cities in India, we had 1,000 people working for us and had 50,000 paid merchants.

We were the third largest in the MSME-focused business in India.

In December 2019, it got acquired by Reliance.

Why did you decide on a space start-up next?

I wanted to move away from my comfort zone. I decided not to have a SaaS company again. Also, I do not want to have a software start-up. I wanted to do something different.

Though I had four ideas in mind, I thought working in the space sector would be very exciting.

To put 1kg of payload into orbit, it used to cost a million dollars once. It came down to $40,000 in 2021 because of Space X. Now it is $6,000.

The cost of rockets was also coming down. If rockets are becoming common, satellites also are.

It means you can come up with new interesting business models around satellites so that more and more satellites will go up.

That's what made me look at space as a sector where there was a good opportunity to make an impact.

That's why I got interested in satellites.

If you look at the satellite segment, 90% of the satellite industry concentrated on earth observation, communication and Internet. So, I decided not to be in these three segments.

I thought, with the launch cost of satellites down, what new models could be made?

That's how I started looking at nano-satellites which weigh up to 50kg.

Then, I found that most of the players in this segment were selling satellite subsystems like power cells, solar system, etc. and they were very expensive.

So, if I were to buy all the subsystems and then build a satellite, it was going to be a costly affair.

I started building all the subsystems in my home in Hyderabad. My friend Nilav Ghosh also joined me from his place in Pune.

While doing so, I realised that I was not able to access an orbital satellite. If you want to access a satellite, you have to be either a part of NASA or ISRO or other space companies.

I am a software developer, and if I want to write a code, I don't need anybody's permission to access a computer.

You can go to Google cloud or Amazon Web Services, create an account to upload your code and test your code in the real computer.

But in the space industry, it is so restricted that you have to rely on the released data. But you have no control over the data.

Imagine a child in Hyderabad has a new idea to use the camera to detect a wildfire in Australia. How does the child test the idea?

That's the reason why children abandon the idea to become a space scientist. Unless you give children access, they will never learn the reality.

Look at the way children are building robots at home.

But in the space industry, when it comes to satellites, you can't play with it on your own.

It is very restricted. That's what I want to solve. That's where I want to make a difference.

Like your tagline says, democratise space....?

Exactly. I want to take everybody's ideas to space.

That's why our satellites are publicly accessible. You can run any kind of experiment in our space lab.

For example, you are a weather enthusiast. And you want to take the picture of a storm and do your own analysis. But you have to depend on the weather department to release the picture of the storm.

But if you have access to a satellite, why should you rely on the data from the weather department?

Imagine you are in India and you can click the picture of the aurora or a volcanic eruption happening in some part of the world. That's what we aim to do.

To access our satellite, you don't need any IQ test, you don't need to write an examination. You can be a Class 1 student, an engineering student, a 60-year-old person, anybody can access our satellite.

Only that way, you can unleash human creativity. Tomorrow, a new idea can come from a village in Andhra Pradesh. It need not be from a scientist alone.

You launched India's first AI space lab on the PSLV C-60 rocket on December 30...

Yes, MOI-TD (My Orbital Infrastructure-Technology Demonstrator). It is India's first demonstration of an AI lab in space.

Our satellite is not just a normal satellite with camera, sensor etc, it has capabilities to run large AI models.

You can write AI algorithms to test AI based experiments in orbit. That's why we call it an AI lab in space.

It is a lab where anybody can walk in and test their ideas.

The three customers who have written experiments to test in space include a group of engineering students from Malaysia, Class 9 and 10 students from Chandigarh and a group of students from Delhi.

Is the lab free or do you charge to work in the lab?

For Rs 20,000 you get to control the satellite for 90 minutes.

As demand goes up, we want to make it less pricey as possible.

It is like the cyber café of the early Internet days!

You say that you aim to revolutionise space research by enabling real-time processing of data in orbit...

Our AI lab gives you the capability to process the data without downloading it. You can process the data in the satellite itself. You need to download only the results.

The new trend in the industry is that more and more people are building satellites with real-time capabilities. But they don't give you access to their satellites. That's what we do.

Who can really benefit from getting access to controlling your satellites?

Our satellites are primarily for students, space enthusiasts, and GIS (Geographic Information System) companies.

Today, all the GIS companies are relying on the data downloaded from the satellites.

What we give is, since you have the control of the satellite, you can also control the orientation of the satellite.

For example, you want to tilt the satellite at a 30 degree angle and capture the image, you can do that with our satellite as you have the control of all the sub-systems like the camera, the sensor, the orientation, the computing.

Because you get to control the entire satellite, you can do more innovative experiments.

Your AI lab is described by many as a 'game changer in space exploration.'

My aha moment will be when I get to hear a story about some child in some remote area coming up with a huge idea!

Then, I will call ourselves a success. It will mean we have really made a difference in society.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com