Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday said his party is ready to come together with anyone who will work to protect the interests of Maharashtra and Marathi manoos, his statement coming amid the rapprochement buzz between the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Talking to reporters here, Thackeray accused the BJP of "swallowing" Mumbai and Maharashtra. He said injustice is being meted out to Maharashtra by the BJP.

"We have been saying this consistently. We are ready to work with anyone, any party that is ready to work in the interests of Maharashtra and Marathi manoos," he said.

"Our responsibility to bring in change. Any party that is working to protect the interests of Maharashtra needs to come together and fight," he said on a question on an alliance between the MNS and the Sena (UBT).

The Thackeray cousins have sparked speculation about a possible reconciliation with their recent statements indicating they could ignore "trivial issues" and join hands nearly two decades after a bitter parting of ways.

While Raj Thackeray has said uniting in the interest of Marathi manoos (Marathi-speaking people) was not difficult, Uddhav Thackeray has insisted he was ready to put aside trivial fights, provided those working against Maharashtra's interests were not entertained.

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New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.

Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.

While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.

In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."

The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.

As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.

The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.

The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.

In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."

What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.

ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.

In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."

GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.