ISRO to launch two student satellites

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which has collaborated with the student community to develop and launch satellites, is overseeing the development of two more student satellite.

Among them will be STUDSAT-2 ,which will be built by a consortium of multiple engineering colleges affiliated to Visveswaraya Technological University (VTU). The STUDSAT-2, according to the STUDSAT team, is a twin satellite mission that aims to demonstrate inter-satellite communication and increasing temporal resolution for remote-sensing applications.

STUDSAT-2 is the second satellite to be launched by the consortium of engineering colleges after the STUDSAT-1, which was launched in 2010. The objective of the first satellite was to see to it that educational institutions develop miniature satellites and communication link between the satellite and ground station, capturing the image of earth with a resolution of 90 metres and transmitting the payload and telemetry data to the earth station.

The STUDSAT-2’s objective will be to demonstrate inter-satellite communication with twin nano satellites. Another student satellite to be launched by Isro would be Pratham, which has been under development for some time by the IIT-Bombay. The student satellites will piggyback with other big satellites launched by the space agency.