Studsat Satellite
Encyclopedia
StudSat is a student satellite conceptualised, designed and project managed by undergraduate students across India
. It is a picosatellite and first of its kind in India. The StudStat was successfully launched on 12 July 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre
into a sun syncronous orbit. This is the smallest satellite ever launched by any Indian organisation indigenously. The mission is experimental in nature and the major objective is for the students to have a hands on experience on the design, fabrication and realisation of a space mission at a minimum cost. The mission life is slated to be six months.
who attended International Astronautical Congress
, 2007, Hyderabad, India after meeting Mr. D.V.A.Raghavamurthy (Project Director, Small Satellites, ISRO Satellite Centre) at the congress. From then the team expanded slowly, ultimately completing the conceptual design. After the financial budget analysis was, the students approached the managements of their respective colleges for sponsorship. The colleges, in turn, approached Indian Space Research Organisation
for preliminary review of the project. ISRO scientists approved the preliminary design review after having a set of meetings with detailed presentations by the students. The initial four member team expanded to around 45 students from 10 different colleges. Seven of the colleges formed a consortium to provide the financial sponsorship for the project. The colleges are bound by an internal MOU
, led by Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
, Bangalore as representative college to sign official MOU
with ISRO. The project team is led by Dr.Jharna Majumdar as the project coordinator.
STUDSAT is successfully placed in the orbit and received the first signal on 12 July 2010 at 11:07am IST.
bound by an MOU
in order to sponsor the project financially. The consortium comprises following colleges.
. The satellite will perform the function of a remote sensing
satellite and take images of earth's surface with a resolution
of 90 metres, the best achieved by any "PICO" category satellite in the world. The satellite consists of the following subsystems
A Ground Station
has been designed in order to communicate with the satellite. The Ground Station
NASTRAC (Nitte Amateur Satellite Tracking Centre) which is established in NMIT
was inaugurated by Dr K. Radhakrishnan
, the current chairman of ISRO. All the above subsystems are designed by students indigenously.
on 12 July 2010. The team has taken over control of the satellite from the ground station established at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Bangalore.The satellite is no longer in contact with the ground station.
, 2008 which was held in Glasgow
, Scotland
. The team won Hans Von Muldau Award for the best team project awarded by International Astronautical Federation
and sponsored by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt
.
The Team has also done a National Record(INDIA)by entering into LIMCA BOOK of RECORDS-2011 Edition for creating the smallest Indian satellite.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is a picosatellite and first of its kind in India. The StudStat was successfully launched on 12 July 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Satish Dhawan Space Centre
The Satish Dhawan Space Centre is the launch centre for the Indian Space Research Organisation . It is located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India, north of Chennai in South India. It was originally called Sriharikota High Altitude Range , and was sometime known as Sriharikota Launching Range...
into a sun syncronous orbit. This is the smallest satellite ever launched by any Indian organisation indigenously. The mission is experimental in nature and the major objective is for the students to have a hands on experience on the design, fabrication and realisation of a space mission at a minimum cost. The mission life is slated to be six months.
History
The project was initiated by a group of four students from different Engineering colleges of Hyderabad and BangaloreBangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
who attended International Astronautical Congress
International Astronautical Congress
Every year, the International Astronautical Federation together with the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute of Space Law , holds the International Astronautical Congress which is hosted by one of the national society members of the IAF.They are an annual meeting...
, 2007, Hyderabad, India after meeting Mr. D.V.A.Raghavamurthy (Project Director, Small Satellites, ISRO Satellite Centre) at the congress. From then the team expanded slowly, ultimately completing the conceptual design. After the financial budget analysis was, the students approached the managements of their respective colleges for sponsorship. The colleges, in turn, approached Indian Space Research Organisation
Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation is an independent Indian governmental agency established in 1969 for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space within and outside of Earth’s atmosphere. Headquartered in Bangalore...
for preliminary review of the project. ISRO scientists approved the preliminary design review after having a set of meetings with detailed presentations by the students. The initial four member team expanded to around 45 students from 10 different colleges. Seven of the colleges formed a consortium to provide the financial sponsorship for the project. The colleges are bound by an internal MOU
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
, led by Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology is an engineering college in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The college is affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum and approved by the AICTE, New Delhi. NMIT offers a four-year graduate programme in engineering leading to the award of...
, Bangalore as representative college to sign official MOU
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
with ISRO. The project team is led by Dr.Jharna Majumdar as the project coordinator.
STUDSAT is successfully placed in the orbit and received the first signal on 12 July 2010 at 11:07am IST.
Studsat consortium
Studsat consortium consists of seven Engineering colleges from Hyderabad and BangaloreBangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
bound by an MOU
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
in order to sponsor the project financially. The consortium comprises following colleges.
- Nitte Meenakshi Institute of TechnologyNitte Meenakshi Institute of TechnologyNitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology is an engineering college in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The college is affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum and approved by the AICTE, New Delhi. NMIT offers a four-year graduate programme in engineering leading to the award of...
, Bangalore.[Lead College] - M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
- Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of EngineeringRashtreeya Vidyalaya College of EngineeringRashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering is a private technical co-educational college located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Established in 1963, RVCE has 11 departments in engineering, one school in architecture, and a Master of Computer Applications department...
, Bangalore. - B M S Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
- Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of TechnologyChaitanya Bharathi Institute of TechnologyChaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology is one of the premiere institutions in the self-financing category in India.It is located in Gandipet, Osman Sagar, Hyderabad, India. It is 25 km away from Secunderabad railway station. The college is affiliated to Osmania University, Hyderabad...
, Hyderabad - Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Hyderabad.
- Vignan Institute of Technology & ScienceVignan Institute of Technology & ScienceVignan Institute of Technology & Science is one of the engineering institutions run by the Vignan group of Guntur. It was established in 1999 to offer undergraduate courses in engineering and technology...
, Hyderabad.
Description
The satellite resembles a small cube of size (10 cm x 10 cm x 13.5 cm), weighing just about 950 gm and has a volume of 1.1 litres. The satellite has been launched in 700 km Sun-synchronous orbitSun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit ascends or descends over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local mean solar time. The surface illumination angle will be nearly the same every time...
. The satellite will perform the function of a remote sensing
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
satellite and take images of earth's surface with a resolution
Image resolution
Image resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....
of 90 metres, the best achieved by any "PICO" category satellite in the world. The satellite consists of the following subsystems
- Communication sub-system.
- Power generation and distribution sub-system.
- Attitude Determination and Control sub-systemAttitude dynamics and controlSpacecraft flight dynamics is the science of space vehicle performance, stability, and control. It requires analysis of the six degrees of freedom of the vehicle's flight, which are similar to those of aircraft: translation in three dimensional axes; and its orientation about the vehicle's center...
. - On Board Command and Data Handling.
- Payload(Camera).
- Mechanical Structure.
A Ground Station
Earth station
A ground station, earth station, or earth terminal is a terrestrial terminal station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft, and/or reception of radio waves from an astronomical radio source. Ground stations are located either on the surface of the Earth, or within Earth's...
has been designed in order to communicate with the satellite. The Ground Station
Earth station
A ground station, earth station, or earth terminal is a terrestrial terminal station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft, and/or reception of radio waves from an astronomical radio source. Ground stations are located either on the surface of the Earth, or within Earth's...
NASTRAC (Nitte Amateur Satellite Tracking Centre) which is established in NMIT
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology is an engineering college in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The college is affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum and approved by the AICTE, New Delhi. NMIT offers a four-year graduate programme in engineering leading to the award of...
was inaugurated by Dr K. Radhakrishnan
K. Radhakrishnan (scientist)
K. Radhakrishnan is an Indian scientist and the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation . He also served as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre , Thiruvananthapuram. He was born in Kerala, India...
, the current chairman of ISRO. All the above subsystems are designed by students indigenously.
Current status
The CDR has been conducted in NMIT where several scientists notably Prof U.R.Rao former chairman of ISRO have evaluated the design. The CDR has been approved by ISRO. The satellite has been launched by PSLV-C15Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle , commonly known by its abbreviation PSLV, is an expendable launch system developed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation . It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing satellites into sun synchronous orbits, a service that...
on 12 July 2010. The team has taken over control of the satellite from the ground station established at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Bangalore.The satellite is no longer in contact with the ground station.
Achievements
The team has presented a paper titled "Studsat- A Student Pico-Satellite for Imaging" in International Astronautical CongressInternational Astronautical Congress
Every year, the International Astronautical Federation together with the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute of Space Law , holds the International Astronautical Congress which is hosted by one of the national society members of the IAF.They are an annual meeting...
, 2008 which was held in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The team won Hans Von Muldau Award for the best team project awarded by International Astronautical Federation
International Astronautical Federation
International Astronautical Federation , the world's foremost space advocacy organisation, is based in Paris. It was founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization. It has 206 members from 58 countries across the world. They are drawn from space agencies, industry, professional associations,...
and sponsored by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt
German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics is a German aerospace society. It was founded in 1912 under the name of Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Flugtechnik...
.
The Team has also done a National Record(INDIA)by entering into LIMCA BOOK of RECORDS-2011 Edition for creating the smallest Indian satellite.
See also
- List of CubeSats
- AnusatANUSATThe Anna University Satellite, or ANUSAT is an Indian student research microsatellite designed, developed & integrated at Aerospace Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Chromepet, Anna University. It carries an amateur radio and technology demonstration experiments...
- Jugnu
- Pratham Satellite