Why QOSMIC Pivoted From Building Satellites To Ground Infrastructure For Satellite Data

Modern satellites are producing more data than ever, and the gap between what they capture and what reaches the ground is widening. According to a research paper that tracks this, a single modern satellite’s daily data output is at over 1-2 TB, but with current radio-based downlink, operators often retrieve only a fraction of that before the satellite passes out of range.

The problem is scale. There were over 11,700 active satellites in orbit as of mid-2025, up dramatically from a few thousand just years earlier, and the number keeps climbing as constellations expand.

Astrogate Labs, one of the Indian startups working on this problem, points out that over 25,000 small satellites are expected to be in orbit by 2030. More satellites means more competition for the same radio spectrum that has powered space communication since the 1950s, and that infrastructure has changed little in decades.

The industry’s answer has been to move data off radio entirely. Satellites have increasingly begun talking to each other using laser links, with Starlink’s inter-satellite mesh the most visible example, capable of moving far larger volumes of data than radio ever could.

Indian startups have been chasing the same shift, each attacking a different piece of it. Astrogate Labs, founded in 2017, builds laser communication terminals for small satellites, both space-to-ground and space-to-space. Its problem statement comes firsthand from how radio frequency bottlenecks capped how much data satellites could actually send home. The startup has raised close to $2 Mn so far and is preparing its first in-orbit demonstration.

Pune-based Olee Space is applying the same optical principles to defence and terrestrial networks. The startup raised a $3 Mn seed round in August 2025 and works across free-space optical communication, quantum-encrypted networking and directed energy systems, serving defence, aerospace and telecom clients rather than satellite operators alone.

But even as satellite-to-satellite links go optical, the last mile i.e. getting that data down to a ground station, still largely leans on ageing radio infrastructure.

For Bengaluru-based spacetech startup QOSMIC, founded in 2025, that disconnect represents one of the biggest infrastructure gaps in the global space economy.

The startup, with a team of 12, is focused on what happens after satellites have done their job. It is developing optical ground stations, telescope-like systems that receive laser signals from satellites, enabling significantly higher-speed communication between space and Earth.

Backed by $3.33 Mn in funding from Accel, Prosus, South Park Commons, Art Garage and angel investors, QOSMIC now plans to complete its in-orbit validation before expanding its commercial network.

QOSMIC traces its origins back to founder and CEO Shreyaans Jain’s work at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), where he was involved in building satellites for private missions, as well as projects linked to India’s Gaganyaan programme under the guidance of cofounder Prof. Aloke Kumar.

Before entering the spacetech ecosystem, Jain had worked on quantum computing hardware during his undergraduate studies. Quantum communication uses the properties of quantum particles to send data that cannot be intercepted or copied without detection, a step beyond standard encryption. Unsurprisingly, Jain’s first instinct was to combine both worlds by building quantum satellites capable of enabling this kind of ultra-secure communication from space.

That ambition eventually brought in the startup’s third cofounder, Rohit Ramakrishnan, who had previously built one of the world’s earliest quantum satellites in Singapore.

But as the trio dug deeper into the commercial landscape, they realised the market was asking for something else.

Quantum and optical satellite communication run on the same core hardware — precision lasers and optical terminals that send data as light instead of radio waves. Operators were not yet asking for quantum-secure links, but they badly needed that optical infrastructure for a more immediate problem: moving far larger volumes of ordinary data than radio allows.

“Nobody really wants quantum communication, but everybody wants the infrastructure that enables quantum communication,” Jain told Inc42.

Optical Ground Stations, Not Satellites

At the centre of QOSMIC’s planned offering are optical ground stations.

Unlike conventional ground stations that receive radio frequency signals, these systems use precision telescopes and optical-mechanical tracking systems to receive laser-based communication from satellites.

The technology allows satellite operators to transmit significantly larger amounts of information while reducing communication costs.

Although optical communication itself is not entirely new, the founders believe commercial adoption has remained limited because the supporting infrastructure has been expensive and sparse.

That is where QOSMIC believes it has built an advantage.

According to Jain, the startup has developed proprietary intellectual property that enables it to manufacture its optical ground stations at a lower cost than existing industry offerings. 

The IP is in the optical front-end and the pointing, acquisition and tracking chain. The startup claims to have a patent filed on the indigenisation of critical components in the stack. The cost advantage comes from the integrated architecture, not just cheaper parts.

Instead of monetising the ground stations and handing over operations to third parties, QOSMIC wants to operate the infrastructure itself.

QOSMIC plans to retain ownership of its infrastructure and build a distributed network of ground stations across multiple locations, charging customers based on data transmitted rather than hardware purchased. The customers include satellite operators, companies running large fleets of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), the zone close to the planet where satellites orbit fast and stay in range for just minutes at a time.

Its pricing model reflects that approach.

Current radio frequency-based ground station providers typically charge anywhere between $3 and $17 per GB depending on network availability and service requirements. QOSMIC plans to offer a flat price of $1 per GB.

Jain explains the pricing logic: optical downlink can move 10 to 100 times more data per pass than RF, using ground hardware that costs about the same. There’s also no spectrum licensing fee per site. That data advantage is what makes $1 per GB possible at scale. He’s clear that this is a target at high volumes, not today’s actual rate.

Rather than earning one-time hardware margins, the company is betting on recurring subscription-like revenues generated from operators continuously transmitting data through its network.

“We want to be very business-oriented as a space company,” Jain said, noting that many spacetech startups spend years perfecting technology without building commercially scalable revenue models.

The startup develops its core optical-mechanical tracking stack in-house, including the systems responsible for tracking satellites and receiving laser signals. Components such as mirrors, telescopes and electronic hardware are sourced from manufacturing partners. Jain explained that manufacturing of critical components happens in the country. On the import supply chain, most optics still come in as imports, and lead times plus customs are a real schedule risk for a hardware startup in India.

Commercial Validation Comes Before Revenue

Although QOSMIC is still pre-revenue, the company is working on validating the capability, which is a key step before commercialisation. 

The startup is looking to test through an indigenous network and claims it has field-validated its full optical chain of pointing, acquisition, tracking and high-speed data transfer over a 10-kilometre terrestrial link, reaching Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL 6).

The plan is to sell ground-station-as-a-service to operators who don’t want to own ground infrastructure, and optical terminals to operators building their own links. Government and institutional users are a separate track.

Its next milestone is an in-space demonstration and in-orbit validation scheduled over the coming year.

Currently it is in the process of signing its first commercial collaboration with TakeMeToSpace, a spacetech startup building orbital data centres. 

Under the partnership, both companies are jointly developing optical communication terminals that will connect with QOSMIC’s optical ground stations once deployed. The startups claim it to be India’s first indigenous Optical Inter-Satellite Link network, with the first terminal planned for launch in Q2 2027.

According to Jain, ISRO has only recently begun exploring optical communications, meaning the domestic ecosystem is still at an early stage. Instead, the startup sees stronger near-term demand from international satellite operators already deploying laser-enabled constellations.

Winning those customers, however, requires more than proving that the technology works.

Because satellites continuously move in orbit around the Earth, operators require access to multiple geographically distributed ground stations capable of receiving signals across different regions.

QOSMIC therefore plans to build partnerships with international ground station operators, allowing customers to seamlessly route satellite data across different countries rather than relying on a single installation.

That network effect, the founders believe, will become as important as the hardware itself.

Competition also remains relatively limited globally, with companies such as Cailabs in France, Transcelestial in Singapore and Archangel Lightworks in the UK operating in adjacent optical communication infrastructure segments.

Edited by Nikhil Subramaniam
Creatives by Varshita Srivastava

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