Indian Space Research Organisation will pick up a total of 100 students from across the country and give them practical experience of how satellites are built under the new ‘Young Scientists Programme’ K Sivan, chairman of ISRO, announced on Friday.
The initiative follows a similar implementation of the programme run by the American space agency NASA and is set to attract young minds of the country to this particular field.
The 100 students will compromise mostly of class 8 students—3 students each from 29 states and seven union territories, will be given lectures by ISRO scientists and will be granted access to the space agency’s laboratories, said Sivan.
The programme will be funded entirely by ISRO, he said.
“We want them to get a practical experience of building a small satellite. If the satellites are good, we want them to fly,” Sivan said.
The ISRO will encourage the students to develop “scientific payloads” that can be launched by the space agency, according to Vivek Singh, director of media and public relations.
As a part of the programme, six incubation centers will be established in different parts of the country– first of such center has already been established in Agartala, Tripura and the rest will be established in North, South, East, West, Centre, and North-East, parts of the country.
ISRO will ask the students to address the problem and ask them for solutions, said Sivan.
Students will be working on PS4, which is the uppermost stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and compromises of two Earth storable liquid engines.
The PS4 can be used for various experimental purposes and ISRO will urge students to send their own satellites which can be launched by ISRO, said Sivan.
Sivan said KALAMSAT, a student satellite, will be launched by PLSV-44 on January 24.
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