Firefly constellation by Pixxel: status and timeline

Milestones

Next · Launch 3–6 more Firefly satellites

First three Fireflies launched on Transporter-1214 Jan 2025Complete.
Three more launched on SpaceX's NAOS mission27 Aug 2025Complete.
Leads consortium for India's first private EO constellationJan 2026Complete.
$100M Series C to fund Honeybees and US productionSep 2026Complete.
Launch 3–6 more Firefly satellitesNowCurrent milestone.
First Honeybee launch, adding shortwave infraredTarget 2027Not yet reached.
12 Honeybee satellites in orbitTarget 2029Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

2027First Honeybee launch, adding shortwave infrared (next)
202912 Honeybee satellites in orbit

Current obstacles

Revisit too slow for some usesWith six satellites, a spot near the equator is seen less than once a week; daily coverage needs more satellites.
Mostly government customersMost users today are governments; building a broad commercial market for hyperspectral data is still under way.

Physics limits

More colours, less light per colourSplitting light into 100+ bands leaves few photons in each, so pixels must be larger or exposures longer than in a normal camera; that is why hyperspectral pixels are metres, not centimetres.
The air gets in the wayWater vapour and gases absorb some colours on the way down and up, so readings must be corrected for the atmosphere, and some bands are unusable.

How it works

4 parts

Spectral fingerprints

Every material has its own colours

Healthy and stressed leaves, minerals and polluted water reflect light in slightly different ways across many colours, invisible to an ordinary camera.

Prism in orbit

Splitting each pixel's light

The camera spreads each 5 m patch's light into about 135 narrow bands from blue to near-infrared, making a stack of images per scene.

Pick the bands

Sending down what matters

Up to about 45 bands are chosen per capture, cutting the data that must be radioed down while keeping the useful colours.

Next: SWIR

Honeybees see further into infrared

Shortwave infrared (to 2,500 nm) holds strong signatures of minerals, water and many gases; the Honeybee satellites add it from 2027.

Spec sheet

Spec	Firefly constellation
Fireflies in orbit	6^R (reported)
Spectral bands	About 135 (about 45 per capture)^R (reported)
Spectral range	About 470–900 nm^R (reported)
Ground resolution	About 5 m^R (reported)
Swath width	About 38–40 km^R (reported)
Orbit	589 km, sun-synchronous^R (reported)
Design life	Up to 7 years^R (reported)
Honeybee range (planned)	470–2,500 nm, about 260 bands^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

3 updates

About Pixxel

The team behind Firefly constellation

Pixxel

Hyperspectral satellites, Firefly, Honeybee, Aurora

Indian-American company that builds and runs hyperspectral imaging satellites, which split light into well over 100 colours to identify crops, minerals and pollution from orbit. Offices in Bengaluru and the US.

Runs six Firefly hyperspectral satellites (2025), each seeing 135+ colour bands at about 5 m.
Raised a $100M Series C in Sept 2026 (Temasek, Seraphim), $195M in total since 2019.
Next: Honeybee satellites adding shortwave infrared from 2027; leads India's private EO constellation consortium.

pixxel.space (opens pixxel.space)Company profile →

Founded: 20197 yrs
Headquarters: IndiaUnited States
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Raised: $100M1 round
Last round: Series C · $100MSep 2026
Works in: SpaceflightEarth observation
Coverage: 1 program · 3 updateslatest 8 Sep 2026checked 11 Oct
Lead investors: TemasekSeraphim Space
Customers: National Reconnaissance OfficeNASAGovernment of India
Investors: GoogleTemasek
Suppliers: SpaceX
People: Awais AhmedCo-founder and CEOKshitij KhandelwalCo-founder and CTO

Firefly constellation

Milestones

Most important updates

Upcoming

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Every material has its own colours

Splitting each pixel's light

Sending down what matters

Honeybees see further into infrared

Spec sheet

Update log

Tue 8 Sep

Wed 27 Aug 2025

Tue 14 Jan 2025

About Pixxel

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Every material has its own colours

Splitting each pixel's light

Sending down what matters

Honeybees see further into infrared

Spec sheet

Update log

Tue 8 Sep

Wed 27 Aug 2025

Tue 14 Jan 2025

About Pixxel