The M S Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences (MSRUAS) will build a student satellite “Ramaiah Sat” coinciding with ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 years of Indian independence. The MSRUAS under Gokula Education Foundation (medical) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Technology Congress Association (ITCA) to develop and build the nano satellite which will be launched in August 2022. The 300-gm satellite costing Rs one crore will be built under the monitoring of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and with the help of ITCA which is the nodal agency for building 75 students satellite mission.
MSRUAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Kuldeep K Raina and ITCA President L V Muralikrishna Reddy, inked the pact in the presence of Chancellor M R Jayaram, and Chief Executive M R Sreenivasa Murthy, among others.
Professor Raina said it is an opportunity to showcase MSRUAS’s prowess in space technology.
“Ramaiah Sat is a 1.6 kg class satellite with a 300 grams IoT (Internet of Things) payload for monitoring other satellites”, an MSRUAS statement said.
ISRO will launch the satellite with UHF and VHF links with a satellite ground station at MSRUAS’s Peenya Campus.
“The Satellite mission functional attributes are water quality monitoring, providing wireless communication network in remote areas, passive radar for weather monitoring and fisherman SOS”, it said.
Earlier this month, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that about 60 startups have registered with ISRO since the “unlocking” of the Indian Space sector recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and quite a few of them are dealing with projects related to space debris management. The other startups’ proposals vary from nano-satellite, launch vehicles, ground systems, research etc.
After the inauguration of the inaugurating the “ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Operation” (IS4OM) at ISRO Control Centre, in Bengaluru, the minister reiterated that the passion of private players and innovative startups will augment the role of the Department of Space in protecting India’s interests in Space by developing all-around capabilities in the domains of space transportation, debris management, infrastructure and applications.