Indian universities asspire to launch student satellites

BANGALORE - Around 25 universities are aspiring to launch satellites built by their students but the Indian space agency says its hands are full as it has to launch four more student satellites by the end of next year.

University students across India are clearly ignited by the successful launch last month by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of the first Pico-satellite (StudSat) built by about 40 under-graduates from four engineering colleges from Karnataka and three from Andhra Pradesh.

“We have received around 25 proposals requesting us to guide, support and launch the satellites made by the students. Some of them have begun working on the proposals,” the project director of small satellites at ISRO’s Satellite Centre (ISAC) Raghav Murthy told reporters on the margins of the second space exhibition and conference here.

Murthy declined to name the universities.

ISRO appears in no mood to take up new launches anytime soon.

“We want to launch the four more student satellites which are already in the making. We expect that all the launches will be completed by the end of 2011,” Murthy said.

The four satellites are being made by students of Indian Institutes of Technology Kanpur and Bombay (one each) and Tamil Nadu-based Satyabhama University and SRM University (two jointly).

The IIT-K satellite, called Jugnu, weighs three kg and carries a camera to study the near infrared region while IIT-B students have named their 3.5 kg product Pratham to measure the total electron content in the ionosphere.

The Satyabhama and SRM students are building two satellites weighing up to seven kilograms each to measure the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere of the lower earth orbit.

The four satellites are being built by the B. Tech students, Murthy said.

The 40-kg Anusat readied by the students of Anna University in Chennai was the first student satellite launched in April 2009. It carried an amateur radio store and advanced communications system.

The Studsat launched in July this year is said to be 80 percent successful in achieving its objectives.

“Building a satellite is educating students on space technology. It is also an inter-disciplinary study of physics, mechanics, control engineering, communications, computer science,” Murthy said.

ISRO provides guidance, consultancy, support, training and free launch services to the students.

Putting together a satellite costs up to Rs.1 crore (Rs. 10 million) which is funded by the respective universities/institutiuons.