\u201cLEO has its own advantages,\u201d said Apolink founder Onkar Singh Batra in an exclusive interview. \u201cIt\u2019s much closer than geostationary orbit, which means closing the link between the customer satellite and our constellation is way easier\u2026 that\u2019s where you make the power requirements limited, and that\u2019s where the compatibility comes in as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apolink\u2019s approach stems from Batra\u2019s early recognition of this connectivity challenge. At the age of 14 in 2020, he developed an interest in space. In 2022, when he was in 12th grade at a defense school in the northern Indian city of Jammu, he created a satellite system named InQube<\/a>, which emerged as India\u2019s first open-source satellite. He also taught space ecosystems to engineering students as a guest professor at IIT Jammu between 2022\u201323.<\/p>\n While working on his first satellite system, Batra recognized the satellite connectivity problem and noticed that existing solutions did not provide backward compatibility, requiring specific hardware to enable network access in orbit.<\/p>\n According to Batra, the issue remain because all other inter-satellite links (ISLs) lack interoperability and are not compliant with the Space Development Agency\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n \u201cWe solve this [through] our hybrid-RF optical architecture and no user terminal, hardware-independent approach,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n Some startups have tried to address dark zones by building new ground stations. However, Batra noted that ground stations are \u201cvery cumbersome to work with and can\u2019t guarantee a 24\/7 link.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe maximum you can afford is a reliable continuous link to the ground during the window,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Founded in 2024, the Palo Alto-based startup plans to solve the problem with a constellation of 32 satellites that include lasers and radios to enable connectivity even for satellites that lack specific hardware.<\/p>\n Apolink, which literally means Apogee-plus-link, aims to offer almost 99% uptime and 10\u201315 seconds of latency. The latency will be further reduced to 2\u20133 seconds once the network is established.<\/p>\n Companies, including Amazon\u2019s Kuiper<\/a> and SpaceX\u2019s Starlink<\/a>, are also building inter-satellite links to address connectivity issues for satellite customers. However, Batra said that most players with multipurpose constellations do not dedicate them to virtual relays, resulting in limited bandwidth available for customers. They also require customers to have an optical terminal installed on their site for connectivity.<\/p>\n \u201cOther ISL players focus on Ku\/Ka-band and use optical terminals for EO image downlink, and we don\u2019t,\u201d he told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n The startup has its own FCC license, eliminating the need for customers to fulfill additional licensing requirements. Furthermore, it produces satellite components, including lasers and radios, in-house to ensure they are compatible with its algorithms.<\/p>\n In Q2 2026, Apolink aims to launch its initial demo mission via a SpaceX rideshare. The mission will feature a 3U technology demonstration satellite, LinkONE\/IPoS, designed to confirm the backward-compatible radio-frequency relay in low Earth orbit, Batra said.<\/p>\n A second demo is expected in June 2027, featuring two satellites. In 2028, the startup will roll out its commercial constellation, with the entire constellation of 32 satellites expected to be launched in 2029.<\/p>\n Despite being in the early stages, the startup has already secured more than $140 million in letters of intent from companies in the Earth observation, communication, and spatial data sectors, including Astro Digital, Hubble Network, and StarCatcher Industries.<\/p>\n Its new seed round was backed by Y Combinator, 468 Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Rebel Fund, Maiora Ventures, and several angel investors, including Laura Crabtree (CEO of Epsilon3), Benjamin Bryant (co-founder of Pebble Tech), and Kanav Kariya (president of Jump Crypto).<\/p>\n Apolink operates with has a core team of four, each with more than 5 years of industry experience and from companies including Maxar, Audacy, and Astra, located within a 4,000-square-foot R&D facility. The company currently focuses on spacecraft integration and testing and is working with early partners to validate its system in orbit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apolink, a Y Combinator-backed space-tech startup founded by a 19-year-old Indian-origin entrepreneur, has raised $4.3 million in an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[2367,186,79,193,529,2368],"class_list":["post-1857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-apolink","tag-exclusive","tag-science","tag-space","tag-y-combinator","tag-yc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/apolink.jpg\")
Apolink team, with founder Onkar Singh Batra second from Left Image Credits:Apolink<\/p>\n