Five student-built satellites piggyback on PSLV-C51, soaring dreams of young minds

Bengaluru, Feb 28: Five student-built satellites also rode into space on board ISRO's PSLV-C51 rocket from Sriharikota spaceport on Sunday, giving wings to dreams of young minds.

The rocket lifted off with Brazil's Amazonia-1 as primary satellite and 18 co-passenger payloads. These small rideshare payloads included "Satish Dhawan Satellite" (SDSAT) built by Chennai-based Space Kidz India, a combination of three satellites "UNITYsat" and technology demonstration satellite "SindhuNetra".

The three satellites (UNITYsat) were designed and built as a joint development by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumpudur (JITsat), G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur (GHRCEsat) and Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat).

"UNITYsat is intended for providing Radio relay services", an official of Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO said.

SDSAT is a nano satellite intended to study the radiation levels/space weather and demonstrate long range communication technologies. SindhuNetra was developed by students of Bengaluru-based PES University, which was awarded the Rs 2.2 crore contract by the Research Centre Imarat, part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

"This project by DRDO will help in identifying suspicious ships through satellite imaging", an official said.