India, Oct. 1 -- SatLeo Labs is set to launch TAPAS-1, its first thermal-imaging payload, aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 Transporter-18 mission via Dhruva Space's LEAP-2 platform on October 1, 2026. The mission is intended to validate the Bengaluru-based startup's thermal-sensing technology, which captures temperature patterns across the Earth's surface and can support applications such as crop-stress monitoring, urban heat mapping and forest-fire detection.

On the sidelines of the launch, Dataquestspoke to Urmil Bakhai, Chief Strategy Officer at SatLeo Labs, where he excusively talked about the company's commercial plans, letters of intent worth more than US$50 million, a planned Series A fundraise, and a proposed satellite manufacturing faci...