Announcement
Astrogate Labs announced that it is developing India’s first indigenous Optical Inter‑Satellite Link (OISL) terminal, with flight‑readiness targeted for 2027. The company demonstrated its 10 Gbps AstroLink Micro space‑to‑ground laser communication terminal and unveiled the OISL capability at the Bengaluru Space Expo 2026, held from 7‑9 September at BIEC.
Technology and Milestones
Astrogate’s free‑space optical communication (FSOC) terminals have achieved Technology Readiness Level 8, are fully qualified for flight, and have already been supplied to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), making Astrogate the only Indian firm to deliver this strategic technology to the national space agency. The satellite‑to‑ground laser terminal has also passed cross‑compatibility testing with the University of Western Australia’s TeraNet mobile optical ground station, confirming interoperability with international ground infrastructure. The core components of the OISL terminal – the Pointing, Acquisition and Tracking (PAT) system, optical modem, stabilized coarse‑tracking gimbals and system‑level integration – were originally developed for Astrogate’s space‑to‑ground terminals and have been validated for inter‑satellite links.
Market Rationale
According to the release, conventional radio‑frequency links are increasingly constrained by spectrum scarcity and bandwidth limits as satellite constellations generate larger data volumes. Optical communications, using highly directional laser beams, provide secure, high‑bandwidth and low‑latency connectivity, addressing this bottleneck. Astrogate is targeting three primary markets with the OISL terminal: satellite backhaul, sovereign defence constellations and orbital compute. The company notes that OISL enables satellites to exchange data directly, moving information across a constellation before it is routed to Earth. It cites SpaceX’s 2025 Starlink progress report, which documented more than 13,000 bidirectional laser links operating as an optical mesh in orbit.
Leadership Comments
Nitish K. Singh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, stated that laser communication in India has moved from a research question to a deliverable product with ISRO as a customer, and that OISL is the “harder problem” that will determine who builds the connectivity layer for future low‑Earth‑orbit constellations, emphasizing that the technology is owned end‑to‑end in India. Jayaraman Yogeshwaran, Co‑Founder and Chief Technology Officer, highlighted that the inheritance of the PAT system and other subsystems from the space‑to‑ground terminals places flight readiness for OISL within reach by 2027.
Contact
Media enquiries may be directed to Dhivya Abirami, Marketing & Communications, at media@astrogatelabs.com.