Elon Musk's SpaceX launches India's Exseed Sat-1 satellite

Earlier this week, SpaceX' Falcon 9 took flight, taking India's first privately built satellite Exseed Sat-1 along with 63 other satellites from different countries across the globe.

With 64 satellites aboard, Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 took off on Tuesday from the Vandenberg air force base in California, US. And among the 64 satellites was a tiny communication satellite that was developed by a Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space.

The small-sized satellite Sat-1 aims to serve the amateur radio in India. This also marks as the first time a privately-built satellite is sent into space, breaking ISRO's monopoly in developing and launching satellites.

"Typically it takes years and millions of dollars to put together one satellite. With the successful launch of Exseed SAT 1, the team has now demonstrated that it is possible to build reliable commercial-grade spacecraft in a matter of months without spending a lot of money," Exseed Space Co-founder Kris Nair tweeted following the successful launch that put Exseed Sat-1 into the polar orbit.

The launch itself caused a stir as it finally happened after being delayed for nearly 10 days due to bad weather conditions and few technical issues.

Nair tweeted saying, "Today as we see our satellite orbit our planet every 90 minutes as per plan, we are hit by the sobering reality that this isn't the end of the path, it's the beginning of a journey... a journey to prove that satellites can be made faster and more cost-effectively than ever before, a journey to deliver this technology and its benefits to customers in India and around the world."

According to reports, Exseed Space also plans on developing the first contract satellite manufacturing facility in the country in the future. The company was founded in 2017 By Nair and Farhan Ashhar. The firm mainly focuses on large platforms to accommodate larger payloads and communication satellite constellation.