Why India's Deep-Tech Needs Engineers Who Can Invent New Tests
Oct 27, 2026 | Updated 12:05 PM GMT+5:30 Aule Space, a Bengaluru startup, keeps a room as dark as its engineers can make it. The company scouted for a special cloth that soaks up almost all the light that falls on it. In the middle of the room sits a mock-up of a satellite, lit by a lamp that plays the part of the sun. Aule uses the room to test the cameras and algorithms its spacecraft will rely on to navigate in orbit, under light as harsh as they will meet in space. The lamp came from an unlikely source. The only supplier with a light that met Aule's specifications was a company that rents lighting to film crews. "They were asking us what movie are we shooting," says Jay Panchal, Aule's co-founder and chief executive. "But we had to explain that this is our sun." The room exists because of what Aule wants to do in space. Communication satellites circle about 36,000 kilometres above…
