NEW DELHI: On Thursday night, The world's lightest satellite, made by Indian students, was successfully placed in orbit by a rocket launched by the ISRO It's on the house - not a single rupee is being charged by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the task. The satellite designed and built by students who work with a private organisation called "Space Kidz India" in Chennai weighs less than a wooden chair at only 1.26 kg.
However, It cost Rs. 12 lakh to make and was made ready in six days, though the group perfected the technology over a span of six years, a 45-year-old professional who steered this motley group of 20-something at Space Kidz India.
The ISRO said that, the Kalamsat-V2 is the lightest satellite in the world, , adding Thursday's launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota also marks another milestone - it's the first satellite designed and built by an Indian private entity and Space Kidz India to be launched by ISRO.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his twitter account to congratulated scientists of ISRO for the launch and wrote"Heartiest congratulations to our space scientists for yet another successful launch of PSLV. This launch has put in orbit Kalamsat, built by India's talented students,"
A 64-gram earlier version of the Kalamsat nicknamed "gulab jamun" because of its puny size was launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017. But it never reached orbit. In its last mission on November 29 last year, the ISRO successfully placed India's Earth-observation satellite HysIS onboard the PSLV C43 into orbit.
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