When the launch vehicle PSLV-C35 fires off from Sriharikota on September 26, it will carry a small piece of Bengaluru on board — a student satellite named PISAT, developed by students of PES University, Bengaluru.
Another distinction is that the launch could make PESU the first university to have an S-band satellite control centre on its campus, said PESU Vice-Chancellor K.N. Balasubramanya Murthy.
ISRO officials have confirmed that preparations are on for the lift-off of PISAT on September 26.
“This programme has been a good learning inter-disciplinary learning experience for students, as it incorporates knowledge of civil , electronics, computer and electrical engineering,” said Dr. Balasubramanya Murthy.
The five-kg student satellite PISAT carries an imaging camera as payload to capture imagery of 185 km x 135 km area with about 80m/pixel resolution.
The satellite will be carried along with ScatSat-1, an ISRO satellite designed to provide data for weather forecasting, cyclone detection and tracking services.
V. Sambasivarao, professor in ECE Department and former deputy director in ISRO Satellite Centre, who was instrumental in starting the satellite programme, said that the programme gave students a lot of “hands-on learning.”
“My colleagues and I, some who worked with ISRO earlier, started the satellite programme with the intention of giving students an exposure to space technology. The camera onboard the satellite is reasonably good for earth imaging,” said Dr. Sambasivarao.
More than 250 students across disciplines were involved in the project, as well as a team from four other universities — four more colleges viz., VEL Tech Technical University, Chennai, SKR Engineering College, Chennai, SONA College of Technology, Salem and Nehru College of Engineering, Thrissur, Kerala; along with the Institution of Engineers, India.
