The agreement marks a significant step in Bhutan’s growing engagement with India’s space technology ecosystem, coming shortly after an industry delegation visit to Thimphu organised by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe).
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The partnership will focus on six priority sectors aligned with Bhutan’s national development agenda: agriculture and food security; forestry and biodiversity; hydropower and water resources; disaster resilience; climate and ESG reporting; and critical infrastructure monitoring. PHOTO PROVIDED BY KUENSEL
June 26, 2026
THIMPHU – Yang Khor Private Limited and SatSure Analytics India Private Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 15 to jointly deliver satellite intelligence and geospatial AI across Bhutan, marking a significant step in growing engagement with India’s space technology sector.
The agreement marks a significant step in Bhutan’s growing engagement with India’s space technology ecosystem, coming shortly after an industry delegation visit to Thimphu organised by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), under India’s Department of Space, with facilitation from the Embassy of India and support from Bhutan’s GovTech Agency.
Under the agreement, Yang Khor, one of Bhutan’s leading ICT firms will serve as SatSure’s preferred strategic partner in the country. The company brings more than two decades of experience in Bhutan’s digital transformation, having delivered over 50 national-scale ICT projects across government, financial, and enterprise sectors.
SatSure, meanwhile, contributes expertise in satellite data analytics, geospatial AI, and Earth observation systems spanning the full data value chain.
The partnership will focus on six priority sectors aligned with Bhutan’s national development agenda: agriculture and food security; forestry and biodiversity; hydropower and water resources; disaster resilience; climate and ESG reporting; and critical infrastructure monitoring.
In agriculture, satellite-based crop monitoring and yield forecasting are expected to support rural livelihoods. In forestry, the collaboration will enable forest cover change detection and carbon stock estimation, reinforcing Bhutan’s constitutional requirement to maintain at least 60 per cent forest cover and its status as a carbon-negative nation.
Hydropower, which remains Bhutan’s largest revenue-generating sector, will benefit from basin monitoring, sedimentation analysis, and flood-risk modelling, as the country pursues an ambitious target of 25,000 MW of generation capacity by 2040.
Disaster resilience tools, including glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) early warning systems and landslide susceptibility mapping, are also expected to play a critical role as Himalayan glaciers continue to retreat.
Chief Executive Officer of Yang Khor, Phub Gyeltshen, said Bhutan had long relied on strong domestic ICT foundations but now required advanced space intelligence to better understand environmental and developmental challenges.
“Yang Khor has spent over two decades building Bhutan’s digital infrastructure, working with the institutions that run this country,” he said. “What we have not had until now is a partner who can show us from space what is happening to our forests, farmland, rivers and glaciers, and translate that into decision-ready intelligence. This partnership is about building Bhutan’s own capacity to use space intelligence for what matters most to our people and our future.”
SatSure co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Prateep Basu said Bhutan represented a uniquely valuable environment for geospatial applications due to its fragile Himalayan ecosystem and renewable-energy-led economy.
“Bhutan is one of the world’s most compelling contexts for geospatial intelligence: a country managing 72 per cent forest cover, the Himalayas’ most vulnerable glaciers, and a hydropower economy that India depends on, all with a population of under a million people,” he said. “Going from a delegation visit to a signed partnership in ten days says something about the intent on both sides.”
Chairman of IN-SPACe, Dr Pawan Goenka, said the collaboration reflected the growing global relevance of space technologies and India’s support for cross-border partnerships in the sector.
“IN-SPACe is actively facilitating such collaborations because space technologies are inherently global in their application and benefits,” he said.
SatSure also highlighted that its ongoing development of Dhaarini, India’s sovereign foundational AI platform for Earth observation, supported by a USD 2.5 million IN-SPACe grant, would underpin the geospatial AI capabilities deployed under the Bhutan partnership.
The collaboration is also expected to contribute to Bhutan’s broader digital economy goals.
Under the 13th Five-Year Plan, the country aims to increase the digital sector’s contribution to GDP to 10 per cent by 2034, while generating around 1,000 digital economy jobs annually. Bhutan’s National Digital Strategy further targets 5,000 new jobs by 2029, with the GovTech Agency already advancing its third Earth observation satellite project developed by Bhutanese engineers.
Yang Khor will lead local data collection, AI model training, stakeholder engagement, and field operations, helping build in-country capacity in geospatial technologies and decision intelligence.
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