Satellite programme ‘Pratham’, the brainchild IIT-Bombay students, will finally take off next month after a nine-year wait.
As per reports, the 10kg satellite, will be launched by Isro's four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in September.
This satellite programme was initiated in 2007, after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the institute and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Pratham is the first satellite programme started by students in the country. The satellite, however, missed its launch in 2012 due to several reasons, including lack of manpower, administrative delay and technical faults.
Pratham project manager Ratnesh Mishra told media that the satellite was currently at the clean room of the Isro Satellite Centre in Bengalaru. "Only the exact launch date has to be finalized," he said. This will be an Isro decision.
Mishra said that with a four-month mission span, the main role of the satellite, which will be placed at an altitude of 720 km, will be measurement of "electron count".
This will be beneficial for scientific studies, correcting errors in communication like the GPS and will also help in tsunami warnings. The total cost of the project is about Rs 1.5 crore.
He said a ground station will be set up at IIT and another at Atharva College in Malad to track Pratham.
A few days before the take-off, an eight-member Pratham team will be positioned at Sriharikota for the pre-launch activities, he further added.
The main aim of the Pratham project is to make IIT-B a centre for advancement of satellite and space technology, reported institute officials .
