Times
of India
First student-made satellite to take off in April
22
March 2009
MUMBAI: India's first student-made satellite will take
off from Sriharikota either on April 5 or 6, riding
piggyback on ISRO's Risat satellite until it separates
and flies into its own designated orbit.
Called
Anusat, the micro-student satellite will be launched by
the four-stage PSLV. It has been designed and developed
by 37 aerospace engineering students with the help of 10
of their teachers of the prestigious Madras Institute Of
Technology, the alma mater of former President and
rocket scientist A P J Abdul Kalam.
"This
is the first time we are launching a satellite made by
students and the idea is to motivate the younger
generation to work for India's space missions," ISRO's
chief spokesperson S Satish said.
Madras
Institute of Technology's R Dhanraj told TOI that the
satellite will operate in the low earth orbit at an
altitude between 600 and 800 km. It is equipped with a
"store and forward" payload and the data will be
received both at the Chennai tech university as well as
Pune University. The satellite will mainly be used for
amateur communication purposes, providing students with
a hands-on experience about space sciences and
technology.
ISRO officials said the agency has been promoting the
development of micro-satellites at universities to
familiarise students in critical areas like structures,
thermal management, controls, guidance, power systems,
command and data handling and communications.
Chennai's Anna University, of which the Madras Institute
of Technology is an affiliate, was the first institution
in India to seriously take up ISRO's offer to design and
develop a micro-satellite. IIT-Mumbai and IIT-Kanpur are
also in the process of designing and developing
micro-satellites.
The
Anusat programme, initiated in 2002, is the brainchild
of R Vasagam, former vice-chancellor of Anna University.
Vasagam was previously the director of ISRO's Apple
satellite project. |
