From Space Surveillance to Missile Defense: How Digantara is Building a Global Defense Tech Powerhouse 

From Space Surveillance to Missile Defense: How Digantara is Building a Global Defense Tech Powerhouse 

In an era where the final frontier is rapidly becoming a new battleground, a Bengaluru-based startup is making a bold strategic leap. Digantara, once focused on tracking space debris, has secured $50 million in Series B funding to expand into the high-stakes domain of missile defense. This pivot is more than a business expansion; it’s a telling sign of how private space tech is becoming indispensable to modern national security, blurring the lines between commercial innovation and sovereign defense. 

The Strategic Pivot: From Tracking Debris to Tracking Missiles 

Founded in 2020, Digantara began its journey in the niche but critical field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA), helping to monitor the thousands of satellites and pieces of debris crowding Earth’s orbit. Its first dedicated satellite, the SCOT (Space Camera for Object Tracking), launched in January 2025 aboard a SpaceX rocket, was designed to track objects as small as five centimeters. 

However, CEO Anirudh Sharma and his team recognized that the technological core they had built—a combination of space- and ground-based infrared sensors, advanced optics, and predictive analytics—was not limited to watching space. It could also be trained on Earth to detect the fiery plumes of launching missiles. 

This realization coincided with a global surge in demand. From Europe to the Indo-Pacific, governments are urgently seeking faster, more reliable early-warning systems than traditional ground-based radar can provide. The market for missile defense is exponentially larger than for commercial SSA, presenting a clear growth pathway. 

The table below illustrates how Digantara’s established capabilities in SSA form the foundation for its new ventures: 

A Global Footprint with a Localized Strategy 

Digantara’s expansion is not just technological but geographical, and its structure is a masterclass in navigating the complex realities of global defense contracting. The company has strategically split its operations to align with stringent national security and regulatory requirements. 

• The U.S. Arm – Engineering for Defense: Following the opening of an office in Colorado Springs, a hub for U.S. space defense, Digantara’s American team is focused on developing larger, bespoke satellites in the 100-kilogram class tailored to Pentagon specifications. This local presence has already borne fruit, securing the startup a place on the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) SHIELD contract vehicle. This indefinite-delivery contract has a staggering potential ceiling of $151 billion over a decade, offering a pathway to substantial government task orders. 

• The Indian Hub – Analytics and Manufacturing: Back in India, Digantara concentrates on what it calls the “smarts”—data processing, analytics, and its core SSA services. It is also scaling manufacturing at a remarkable pace. With a current facility that can build five satellites at once, the company has plans for a new plant in Andhra Pradesh capable of producing up to 30 satellites simultaneously, aiming for operational status next year. CEO Sharma notes that India is currently its largest market, contributing an estimated $15–20 million in revenue driven by the push for sovereign defense capabilities. 

This “design and build locally” model respects the non-negotiable defense procurement rules of its target nations while leveraging India’s engineering talent and cost advantages for scale. 

Fueling an Ambitious Roadmap: Satellites, Sensors, and Revenue Goals 

The $50 million war chest is earmarked for an aggressive multi-year plan. Digantara’s roadmap through 2026-27 is a blend of infrastructure build-out and relentless deployment: 

• A Constellation in the Sky: The company plans to launch a total of 15 surveillance satellites over the next two years, with missions already scheduled on SpaceX rideshares in March, June, and October of 2026. Alongside this, it aims to develop and launch a prototype missile-tracking satellite by late 2027. 

• Integrated Platforms: These satellites are part of larger, named systems. The SCOT constellation will handle space surveillance, while a new series dubbed ALBATROSS is dedicated to missile warning. All this data feeds into Digantara’s integrated platform, AIRA, which promises a holistic view of threats from space and the atmosphere. 

• Financial Trajectory: With revenues having grown more than tenfold in the past two years and existing contracts worth about $25 million, Digantara is targeting annual revenues of $25–30 million within the next 18 months. The funding will also support expansion into Europe, with plans to establish an entity there by 2026 to participate in programs like the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking initiative. 

The Bigger Picture: Space as the “New High Ground” 

Digantara’s journey mirrors a seismic shift in the global order. As Sharma aptly stated, “Space is no longer a frontier, it is the new high ground for national security”. The lines are blurring: 

• Commercial Tech for National Security: Startups like Digantara are proving that agile, innovative private companies can develop critical defense infrastructure, challenging traditional aerospace and defense giants. 

• The Rise of Sovereign Capabilities: Nations like India are actively fostering domestic champions to reduce reliance on foreign technology, creating a fertile environment for startups in the defense-tech space. 

• A Contested Domain: With anti-satellite weapons tests, satellite jamming, and the militarization of orbit, the demand for space intelligence and related defensive capabilities is no longer speculative—it’s urgent. 

Challenges on the Horizon 

Despite the momentum, Digantara’s path is fraught with challenges. The defense sector is notorious for long sales cycles, intense competition from established players like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and the ever-present risk of geopolitical shifts altering budget priorities. Furthermore, scaling hardware manufacturing and maintaining the reliability required for life-or-death missile warning systems is an immense technical and operational hurdle. 

Conclusion 

Digantara’s $50 million funding round is more than a financial milestone. It is a validation of a potent thesis: that the technologies to secure the sustainable use of space are fundamentally the same as those needed to secure nations from terrestrial threats. By leveraging its first-mover advantage in SSA, adopting a cleverly localized global strategy, and executing against an ambitious deployment plan, Digantara is not just transitioning from a space surveillance startup to a missile defense player. It is positioning itself to become a foundational piece of the 21st-century digital defense shield, proving that in today’s world, security is increasingly orchestrated from the vantage point of space. The company’s success or failure will be a key indicator of whether a new generation of agile, tech-first firms can redefine the future of global security.