{
  "id": 19855,
  "title": "Satlabs is building relay satellites to shorten the waiting period for Earth observation data",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/31/satlabs-is-building-relay-satellites-to-shorten-the-waiting-period",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-07-31T10:11:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "YourStory",
    "slug": "yourstory",
    "url": "https://yourstory.com/2026/07/satlabs-relay-satellites-earth-observation"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Satlabs Space Systems, a Bengaluru-based spacetech startup founded in February 2023 by Saisree Eega and Sooraj Gopakumar, is developing a constellation of low-cost data relay satellites to shorten the waiting period for Earth observation data. While imaging satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) can capture images of a flood, a crop field, or a border within seconds, the data often takes hours to reach the ground due to the time it takes for the satellite to pass over a ground station. Ground stations are scarce and expensive to build, making a relay solution necessary for applications in defence, agriculture, disaster response, offshore energy, and industrial connected devices. Satlabs aims to reduce latency from several hours to a few minutes, eventually reaching near real-time, by offering a constellation of around 150 relay satellites in LEO. These satellites would hand off data to other satellites overhead, effectively turning intermittent contact into near-continuous communication. The company plans to provide an interface for customers to connect their own satellites and pull data through an API, eliminating the need for a dedicated transponder on board. The service is currently in development and not yet available.",
  "summary": "The Bengaluru-based company is developing a constellation of low-cost relay satellites that pass data between imaging satellites and users without waiting for a ground station pass.",
  "key_points": [
    "Satlabs developing low-cost relay satellites in Bengaluru",
    "Aims to reduce Earth observation data latency from hours to minutes",
    "Plans 150 relay satellites in LEO for near real-time data"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}