Aranthangi students’ satellite will help map quality of agri land

“Minister appreciated us and assured us help from the government,” said T Kirthiga, one of the two designers of the project.

Kirthiga, studying in class 12 with her friend M Subuhana designed SFT Satellite using nanotechnology to improve the agriculture in the State. The satellite was sent to Mexico for approval and after it received the approval, a Mexican based company will launch the satellite in an air-based helium capsule.

“The satellite will be placed in Stratosphere at an altitude of 50 kilometre to map the agricultural lands. Instead of doing soil test to find out the factors affecting the crops, the satellites will take data of atmospheric factors such as moisture, pollution, the levels of particulate matter and so on,” said Kirthiga.

She also said that the farmlands in and around Aranthagi have been mapped using drones and the data from the satellite will be compared for accurate outcomes. It took six months for the students to developthe satellite.

The students took inspiration from Tiruchy-based Villet Oviya who designed a similar satellite based on nanotechnology.

“Based on the project of Villet Oviya we approached our school management and received approval to build a satellite. With the help of Agni Foundation, we successfully designed the satellite and sent it to Mexico,”said Subuhana.

She further said that the entire team is confident about the success of the satellite launch and once it succeeds, they will send it to ISRO.

Kannan Chinnasamy, an independent researcher who helped the students, told DT Next, “The satellite will be brought down to an altitude of 25 kilometres for mapping the agricultural lands. Even the extent of pest infection can be ascertained precisely with the help of the satellite.”