India's College Of Engineering-Pune Hope For Satellite Dream Realization On June 20th

  India's College Of Engineering Pune (CoEP) students have been working on a smallsat that is scheduled to take off on June 20, along with ISRO’s satellite CartoSat-2C, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The COEP + ISRO's satellite, Swayam.

  This will be an important day for the 176 students from CoEP when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch their smallsat ‘Swayam,’ which was developed with help from the students of CoEP. Since 2008, the students have been working on this mission using a fund of Rs 50 lakh.

  The Director of CoEP, BB Ahuja, related that the purpose of the satellite will be to ensure the establishment of end-to-end communication, even in the remotest of places.

  Students involved in the project said that the satellite weighs less than 1,000 grams and that the satellite aligns itself with the magnetic field on its own, hence the application of the term Swayam. “Earth's magnetic field is used to stabilize the satellite after the launch—this technology is unique and will be used for the first time by India,” Ahuja added.

  A second project by CoEP has already been approved by ISRO. This project will be powered by solar energy and will be three times the size of the current satellite, according to faculty head, Manisha Khaladkar. “The satellite will fly like a kite and will send the data on ion composition regularly to Earth for study,” she added.