Students are going to be the focus of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). On January 24, the space agency will launch Kalamsat, a satellite made by a Chennai-based students' group, Spacekidz, on its next PSLV launch.
This is a unique mission as the ISRO is, for the first time, attempting to give life and utility extension to parts of the spacecraft, which roam aimlessly in space, after inserting the satellites into orbit. Kalamsat will be perched atop the fourth stage of the PSLV, called the PS4, which will be taken to a higher orbit, providing an orbital platform for the students' satellite. Kalamsat will be carrying out experiments regarding Ham radio connectivity.
ISRO chairman K. Sivan said they were keen to launch students' experiments regularly, “because younger people think innovatively as they are not scared of going wrong.” He appealed to students to just come to them with their scientific projects. “Just bring your payloads, we will plug them onto the satellite. Focus on the science, not the satellite,'' he said.
So far, ISRO has received seven proposals from students.
Speaking about India's communication system, Navic, Sivan said that it was one of the unique developments, which has started out from villages and will move onto cities. “Usually technology starts in urban areas and then percolates to rural ones. This time, fishermen in Tamil Nadu are using Navic-enabled handsets which will aid them with spotting areas of good catch. Presently, we hope the technology will be incorporated into use in urban devices, too.'' He is hopeful that in another few months, Navic mapping would be available as an alternate to GPS on mobile handsets.
The Navic handsets, which the fishermen are using in Tamil Nadu, use data provided by the Navic system, through the department of fisheries. These handsets give real time information on where fish shoals are moving. It is a big advancement over the earlier method of sighting catch, which relied on watching the flights of birds and other such aids. The handsets also issue alerts to fishermen if they are straying away from the exclusive economic zone of India. This could thus reduce the chances of fishermen being caught by patrols of neighbouring countries for straying into their territory.
Navic handsets are also being used to monitor coal storage and pilferage, said the ISRO.
