Former SmartSat PhD student’s Dr Kathiravan Thangavel and Sai Vallapureddy have joined forces and expertise to establish their own company, GroundZero Space.
Kathiravan, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, recently completed his PhD at RMIT University in Melbourne, looking at Artificial Intelligence for distributed satellite systems autonomous operations. Prior to this, Kathrivan completed his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Anna University-Chennai in India, before completing his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. He also completed the International Space University’s Southern Hemispheres Space Studies Program in 2019.
Sai, who is the Chief Executive Officer, is close to completing his PhD, also through RMIT University, looking at a Machine Learning based solution for space situational awareness and space sustainability. Before pursuing his PhD, Sai graduated with his master’s in advanced mechanical engineering from Monash University.
The logo for GroundZero Space
Together, the pair have founded GroundZero Space (GZS), an Earth and Space Intelligence company structured around two core pillars – Upstream Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and Satellite Communications (SatCom), and Downstream Earth Intelligence capabilities. GZS delivers satellite-backed intelligence as comprehensive operational solutions to satellite operators, defense agencies, space stakeholders, governments, enterprises, and other clients, addressing escalating orbital risks while delivering actionable terrestrial insights through AI-native architectures.
The pair have also brought in the managing director of Bisam Group, Harish Bisam, a business leader with over 20 years of expertise in global innovation and investment, as the company’s Director and Chief Financial officer.
(L to R) GroundZero Space Chief Finance Officer, Harish Bisam with co-founders Sai Vallapureddy and Kathiravan Thangavel.
The upstream services provide sovereign Space Domain Awareness and Satellite Communications through a unified proprietary hardware and user platform. This enables independent space traffic management for emerging space nations and commercial operators. The company’s AI-powered system tracks over 130,000 space objects with sub-second response times, democratizing access to critical space infrastructure previously controlled by only a few elite space entities.
The downstream services deliver customized Earth Intelligence solutions backed by satellite data and a state-of-the-art software stack. Key focus areas include infrastructure monitoring, natural resource management, environmental compliance, agricultural drought assessment, and disaster management. GZS provides government agencies and enterprises with precision analytics for informed decision-making.
GroundZero Space is one of six start-ups completing the 2025 Venture Catalyst Space program, funded by the South Australian Government through the South Australian Space Industry Centre and run through the Innovation & Collaboration Centre at the University of South Australia.
To find out more, visit the GroundZero Space website here. You can get in touch via email at [email protected], or follow the company on its journey LinkedIn, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).