Space technology startup Pixxel has signed a deal with Silicon Valley-based in-space satellite transportation company Momentus Inc to launch its second satellite into space.

The launch will be atop SpaceX’s Falcon9 rocket next year.

The Bengaluru-based company is looking to build a constellation of Earth imaging satellites, the first of which is scheduled for launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket in November, while the second could go into space sometime in mid-2021.

“We are excited to partner with Momentus to get our satellites up in orbit as soon as we can and get the data in the hands of our customers. Momentus’ launch and in-space transfer services provide us with the flexibility to get to the orbit we want, even on a rideshare mission,” said Awais Ahmed, cofounder and CEO of Pixxel.

Founded in 2019 by Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, Pixxel is counting on imaging data from its first two satellites to prove its capabilities and win customers.

The company said last month that it had secured $5 million in funding led by Blume Ventures, GrowX Ventures and Lightspeed India, to build and launch its second satellite.

“Pixxel is doing something innovative that hasn’t been done in India or the West,” said Mikhail Kokorich, CEO of Momentus. “With a shared belief in humanity’s expansion in space via in-situ resources, we wish this mission the ultimate success.”

Pixxel was one of the contenders for the Best on Campus category in The Economic Times Startup Awards 2020, only narrowly missing out to space tech startup Bellatrix.

The company said once its hardware is proven, it will quickly build and launch close to 30 satellites between the end of 2022 and mid-2023.

It has lined up customers such as Satsure and Skymet to buy its data in India, along with other global agriculture, oil and gas and weather tracking companies.