Asteria Aerospace designs and manufactures drones in Bengaluru and develops software for planning flights and analysing aerial imagery. Its military and police customers use its aircraft for surveillance and reconnaissance. Industrial customers use its drones to survey land, inspect infrastructure and monitor construction, mining and agricultural sites. Its SkyDeck platform lets field teams upload imagery and turn it into 2D maps and 3D models that colleagues can measure and compare over time. Asteria also provides pilots, aircraft and analysis for customers that need a survey or inspection without operating their own fleet.
Asteria offers engineers a chance to work on aircraft that fly in the field, from flight controls and operator interfaces to the software that processes survey imagery. Its Bengaluru team designs and manufactures drones in-house, and three models have received type certification from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Software and GIS candidates can explore the team's public QGIS plugin to see how surveyors bring SkyDeck data into their mapping workflow.
Programming language
Ground control application framework
Programming language
Geospatial software
Python user interface toolkit
Cloud object storage
Mehta co-founded Asteria and helped develop its first autopilot. He previously worked on flight controls at Rockwell Collins. He holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University and a master's in the same field from Georgia Tech, where he specialised in flight dynamics and control.
Vartak co-founded Asteria after building and testing early drone prototypes with Neel Mehta. A Purdue University aerospace engineering graduate, he worked as a systems and flight test engineer at Boeing and later managed supply chain strategy and processes at Accenture.
Thakker leads the enterprise drone business across agriculture, infrastructure, oil and gas, and telecommunications. Before joining Asteria, he built EY's Drone Centre of Excellence for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.
Securities and Exchange Board of India
Jio's final prospectus confirmed that Asteria ceased to be its subsidiary on March 25, 2026. Asteria's audited accounts identify Reliance Strategic Business Ventures as the new direct holder of the 74.57% stake.
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Asteria confirmed that its AT-15 participated in the Fire & Fury Corps drone proficiency competition on July 11. Army teams demonstrated surveillance and reconnaissance missions in Ladakh's high-altitude terrain.
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Reuters reported that Reliance provided documents to India's Central Bureau of Investigation over an alleged bribe linked to Asteria's drone import applications. Both accused individuals denied the allegations. Reliance said it had neither known of nor authorised the alleged transaction.
Read articleAsteria AerospaceBangalore, India
Asteria AerospaceBangalore, India
Asteria AerospaceBangalore, India
Asteria AerospaceBangalore, India
