ISRO to launch India's first student-made satellite from Sriharikota space center
New Delhi : Inspiring students across the globe, ISRO will launch India's first student-made satellite into the space. Yes, the space agency will lift off Microsat-R, an imaging satellite for DRDO, and Kamalsat, is a small communication satellite developed by students and Space Kidz India. The satellite launch will be been carried by a new variant of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket.
Talking to IANS recently, the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) K Sivan said, "We will be launching 700-kg Microsat-R and Kalamsat with a new variant of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). In order to reduce the weight and increase the mass, an aluminum tank is used for the first time in the fourth stage,"
About Kamalsat satellite created by students
- Kalamsat is a communication satellite with a life span of two months
- The nanosatellite is a 10cm cube weighing 1.2 kg
- The satellite cost was about Rs 12 lakh
- Kalamsat will be the first to use the rocket's fourth stage as an orbital platform. The fourth stage will be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments
- It is named after former Indian president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and was built by an Indian high school student team, led by Rifath Sharook, an 18-year-old from the Tamil Nadu town of Pallapatti
- It is the world's lightest and first ever 3D-printed satellite
The satellite launch will take place 90 km off Chennai, from the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota.
Srimathy Kesan, Founder CEO of Space Kidz India, told IANS that her dream of putting a satellite built by students will come true with the launch of Kalamsat.
ISRO is planning to have the launch at about 11:40 pm today night. The launch mission PSLV-C44 won’t just launch a satellite but will be the first in the world to use the rocket as a platform for experiments in space as well.
According to her, it will be the first satellite of Space Kidz India to be in a proper orbit as its earlier satellites were suborbital ones. The nano satellite will also enter history books on that account.
Chennai-based Space Kidz India is working towards promoting art, science and culture for students of India, and to create an international platform for them.
For now, it is planning to build another satellite, Vikramsat to perform biological experiments in space. "We are planning to build a satellite called Vikramsat to do some biological experiment in the space. By this we hope to contribute in a small way to India's ambitious human space mission Gaganyaan," said Kesan.
