SRM nano-satellite completes 40,000 orbits in space

The SRM Institute of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), designed and built nano-satellite SRMSAT-1 by its students and it has completed 40,000 orbits since it was launched on October 12, 2011 from Sriharikota.

Speaking about the significant success, SRS Prabaharan, Joint Director, Research, at SRMIST, said that the satellite has endured its original life span of two years and continues to send data to the ground control centre in the campus at Kattankulathur. The satellite will complete nine years in space on October 11 this year. The project planned by SRMIST President Dr P Satyanarayanan, is tasked to monitor and estimate carbon dioxide and water vapour in tropical atmosphere globally. “We are proud of our students who built and launched the satellite with the help of ISRO,” Prof Prabaharan said complimenting all branches of engineering students and faculty mentors at SRMIST. ISRO provided solar cells and batteries for the satellite apart from making available its facility at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota for the launch.

The students of Team SRMSAT have developed a novel design for a docking port which is unique in terms of its mechanism and operation, said Prabhakaran.

The two satellites will also accommodate scientific payloads that will operate in orbit after the demonstration in order to obtain useful data for the scientific community. Different fields of interest have been considered for this purpose and a few have been shortlisted, Prabaharan added. The exact choices of payloads are currently under review and will be finalised after further communication with ISRO. On upcoming initiatives of the SRM students who have formed Team SRMSAT, he said one of the projects being proposed to ISRO was on how to neutralise and will prevent space debris, he added.