new Delhi, Jan. 16 -- India's bet to open spacetech to private companies five years ago has spawned startups that are already earning millions of dollars by sharing agriculture and climate data collected by the satellites they launched. These ventures are pivoting towards a new lucrative business: defence surveillance. Google-backed satellite imaging startup Pixxel and its cross-town peer Digantara target at least half of their business by launching satellites for defence forces in India and overseas, according to their top executives. Even rocket builder Skyroot Aerospace and multiple smaller startups hope to tap such contracts. India's private space economy revenue is expected to surge more than fivefold over the next eight years from $8.5 billion to $44 billion, growing at an annualized rate of 23%, according to data from Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space). These firms hope to channel this growth. Bengaluru-based Pixxel expects to generate revenue in the hundreds of millions in the next three years. "Out of this, a rising volume of defence contracts, both in the US and India, will mean that 40-50% of our revenue will come solely from defence clients," said Awais Ahmed, cofounder and chief executive of Bengaluru-based satellite imaging startup Pixxel, which is backed by Google. Its revenue stood at $4.65 million in fiscal year 2025 (FY25), according to its filings with the Registrar of Companies accessed through Tracxn. Anirudh Sharma, CEO at Digantara, has projected that by March 2027, the company would generate over Rs.250 crore, of which 80% will come from government-backed clients. The current capital that we have will go significantly into research and development (R&D)....