SRMSAT-1 completes 40,000 orbits, outlives life span

CHENNAI, July 13:The nano satellite SRMSAT-1, indigenously designed and
built by students of the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration
with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has completed 40,000 orbits since it’s launch October 12, 2011 from Sriharikota.
Speaking about the significant milestone, Dr S R S Prabaharan, Joint Director
(Research), SRMIST, said the satellite has outlived its original life span of two
years and continues to send data to the ground control centre in the campus
at Kattankulathur in Kancheepuram district.
The satellite will complete nine years in space on October 11 this year.
Conceived by SRMIST President Dr P Satyanarayanan, the satellite was tasked
to monitor and estimate carbon dioxide and water vapor in tropical atmosphere
globally, a SRMIST release on Saturday said.
“We are proud of our students who built and launched the satellite with the help
of ISRO,” Prof Prabaharan said
To demonstrate rendezvous and docking using an in-house developed docking port involving two small satellites.
The students of Team SRMSAT have developed a novel design for a docking
port which is unique in terms of its mechanism and operation. The two satellites
will also accommodate scientific payloads that will operate in orbit after the
demonstration in order to obtain useful data for the scientific community.
Different fields of interest have been considered for this purpose and a few have
been shortlisted, he added.
The exact choices of payloads were currently under review and will be finalized
after further communication with ISRO.
On upcoming initiatives of the SRM students who have formed a Team SRMSAT,
he said one of the projects being proposed to ISRO was on how to neutralize and
or prevent space debris, he added.
(AGENCIES)

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