Heat is now one of the most closely watched markers of climate change. The World Meteorological Organisation notes that the past 10 years have been the warmest on record, with 2023 alone bringing unprecedented heatwaves across Asia, Europe, and North America.
July 2025 was the third-warmest July globally (after July 2023 and 2024), according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The average sea surface temperature was also the third highest on record.
Rising temperatures threaten crop yields, accelerate water stress, and intensify urban heat islands, yet monitoring systems remain patchy. The United Nations Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) initiative aims to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems by 2027.
Thermal imaging, often described as taking the Earth’s temperature from above, provides a means to track these changes in real time and offer data to governments, farmers, and planners, so that they can act before crises unfold.
India’s SatLeo Labs, a space tech startup based out of Ahmedabad, is working on a satellite constellation designed to act like a thermometer for the planet. The company plans to use thermal imaging from space to monitor rising temperatures, greenhouse gases, and water stress, problems it says are already reshaping economies and communities.
What is the Urgency?
The Indian government has also moved to back private space companies through policy and funding by introducing the ₹1,000 crore VC fund for the sector. Gujarat, too, has recently announced a 25% subsidy for space startups.
Shravan Bhati, co-founder and CEO of SatLeo Labs, in an exclusive interaction with AIM, said that the company’s technology is designed to address pressing challenges. “Four lakh people lost their lives last year just because of the heat islands, 50,000 people lost their lives, just in Europe, right?” said Bhati, adding that SatLeo’s data identifies where such heat islands are developing and can even predict where it could happen.
For Bhati, the goal is simple: space data should be practical. “Space tech is a very interesting area, but I think we should also focus on the challenges, what problem we are solving, right? That’s very important,” he said.
He mentioned the ‘National Geospatial Policy’ that allows private (Indian) players to map areas with one-metre resolution, a shift that has encouraged more startups to enter the geospatial sector. He added that ISRO continues to support young firms by providing access to testing and manufacturing facilities.
SatLeo has signed agreements with government and private bodies, and will initially focus on the Indian and the Middle East markets, before expanding to Europe and the Americas.
Pilots on the Ground
Bhati explained that rising heat is reducing crop yields and stressing water resources. “By 2050, it [world population] will be around 9.7 billion, and we will need 70% more food. Because of rising temperatures, 30% of the yield will be reduced, and we still do not have any monitoring system of the temperature,” he said.
Thermal data can identify water stress more than a month before it becomes visible to the human eye. This, he argued, will be key for farming and food security.
SatLeo has also initiated pilot projects with municipal authorities. “We are working closely with Tumkur Municipal Corporation, where we are using this data to identify and solve multiple problems, to start with solid waste dumps,” Bhati said.
The company’s AI platform, SatLeo insight hub portal, analyses thermal views of urban areas to flag issues. Through this platform, the Tumkur Municipal Corporation is able to identify emission of the greenhouse gases around their solid systems. “We are also identifying the thermal patterns of the city and that’s very important for planning,” he said.
Bhati explained that the technology relies on multiple thermal bands, including mid-wave infrared and long-wave infrared (MWIR & LWIR), which can cut through thin clouds and haze. This approach improves the data accuracy, making it reliable for urban planning and agriculture.
SatLeo is also in talks with other cities to provide them similar applications, from tracking heat islands to improving plantation strategies.
Building the Satellites
The startup recently closed a pre-seed round of $3.3 million in May to develop its high-resolution thermal and visible imaging technology from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
“We will be using this fund for the manufacturing of our two platforms,” Bhati said. The first, Tapas, is a CubeSat platform for thermal analytics, while the second, Pyro, is a larger 100-kg satellite.
Tapas is scheduled to launch in February 2026, with Pyro to follow in late 2026 (Q4 2026).
The company wants to complete its constellation within three years. “We do not want to consume a lot of time,” he said.
Talent is central to the company’s technology as SatLeo’s team combines experienced scientists with young engineers, a balance that helps the startup manage challenges such as atmospheric noise in thermal data and improve accuracy in satellite analytics.
He added that the satellites will also use edge computing to process data onboard. By reducing transmission time, the system can support faster responses in disaster management and defence scenarios.
But, raising capital for a deep tech venture has been a steep climb, recalled Bhati. “We pitched to around 40 to 50 VCs. Some were asking irrelevant questions, some were interested, but most did not have much understanding of deep tech.”
Additionally, despite making 90% of its satellite components in India, SatLeo Labs still faces hurdles with imports. Bhati said there is still room for improvement in the customs department.
One critical part is the detector, used in Earth observation satellites, which is not manufactured domestically and must be sourced from abroad. He explained that while draft rules exist to exempt space-based items from customs, authorised bodies to certify components are missing, creating delays and uncertainty.
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