IIT-B students' micro-satellite Pratham sends signals

MUMBAI: IIT Bombay’s ground station built for its micro-satellite Pratham, which was designed by the institute’s students, has received intermittent signals from the satellite over the past couple of days, much to the joy of the team members behind the project.

The brainchild of two IIT-B students, Pratham weighs 10-kg and is placed at an altitude of 720 km. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru had launched the satellite two months ago.

The IIT-B had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ISRO in September 2009, which was later extended in 2014. The total cost of the project is about Rs 1.5 crore.

On Saturday, while IIT-B’s three-day TechFest was ongoing, the signals being received from Pratham came as a surprise to students. Project manager Ratnesh Mishra said, “The satellite, while orbiting around the earth, comes above India around two to three times a day. We keep a track on the signals when it orbits above India. The main application of the beacon signals that were received would be to conduct an electron count of the ionosphere.”