Kawa Space
Kawa Space (Mumbai) is a startup providing a “Mission-as-a-Service” platform - essentially a cloud-based software infrastructure to design, launch, and operate satellite missions without users needing their own space expertise. Kawa’s vision is to build the “application layer for space”, enabling enterprises to get insights from satellites or even deploy a payload in orbit via Kawa’s platform as easily as using a cloud service. Kawa operates a network of distributed ground stations and integrates data from various satellites. It offers ready solutions like Maritime Domain Awareness (tracking ships via satellites), SIGINT/ELINT intelligence products, and custom smallsat mission design for customers like telecom or government agencies. Uniquely, Kawa emphasizes a lean approach - its internal culture has no formal titles and small autonomous teams, aligning with its hacker ethos in aerospace.
Kawa Platform: a one-stop online interface where users can task satellites, downlink imagery, and integrate the data into their applications via APIs. For example, an agriculture company can use Kawa’s platform to obtain crop images periodically without owning any satellite.
Custom Satellite Missions: Kawa designs end-to-end nano-satellite missions (“hosted payload” model) – it handles building or procuring the satellite, launching it, and operating it, delivering only the data/ insights the client needs.
Intelligence Products: Off-the-shelf solutions like a maritime surveillance service (monitoring ships and illegal fishing using SAR satellites), and signals intelligence (RF spectrum mapping via satellites) for defense clients. Essentially, Kawa abstracts the space layer for customers, similar to how cloud companies abstract data centers.
Meet the Team
Founders
Krishna “Kris” Nair (Founder & CEO) - a serial tech entrepreneur (earlier founded “Boost”) who set up Kawa in 2019, and Bala Menon (Co-founder), a former aerospace engineer. Kris Nair’s philosophy is to “build roads, not shops, on the next silk route (space)” - meaning he aims to provide foundational infrastructure for others to use. Interestingly, Kris was also involved in founding Exseed/Satellize earlier.
Other Team Members
Kawa’s hiring approach pulls talent with defense backgrounds - e.g. former military satellite experts and software veterans. The company’s Advisory Board includes Dr. V. K. Somaratne (ex-DRDO) for strategic tech guidance. Kawa keeps a low profile but has collaboration with IN-SPACe and AWS Activate for technical support.
