Coimbatore: Declaring open the satellite ground station on the premises of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore on Thursday evening, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr. K Sivan encouraged the students to work towards the technological advancement of the nation, in partnership with ISRO.
"Sri Shakthi Sat" built by Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology is the first private engineering college in the country to build a satellite to be launched by ISRO.
Coimbatore: Declaring open the satellite ground station on the premises of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore on Thursday evening, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr. K Sivan encouraged the students to work towards the technological advancement of the nation, in partnership with ISRO.
Virtually launching the GHRCE satellite ground station on the premises of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore on Thursday evening, Dr. K Sivan said "Today is the beginning of a new era. We have sown the seed today which can grow into a banyan tree in the years to come. The day will come when ISRO will come to use your ground station.” Dr. K Sivan said after he virtually declared open the GHRCE satellite ground station of rhe college.
"A combination of your brains and ISROs muscle power can make India a technology super power" - Dr. K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO.
With an investment of Rs.2 crores, the students of the city-based private engineering college, have designed and developed a satellite and christened it "Sri Shakti Sat" . The PSLV C-51 Satellite will be put to use for academic purposes per se. The satellite that weighs 460 grams will be placed at 500 to 575 kilometres above the surface of the earth.
On the sidelines of the launch that took place today, S. Thangavelu, Chairman of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology told SimpliCity “The respective satellite will cross India two times in a day and is armed with the capability of collecting and dissimilating information regarding forest fire or underground pipe leakage. The satellite is equipped with capability of performing all Internet of Things (IoT) related tasks.” However, he confirmed that the Sri Shakti Sat will be used for academic purposes.
The satellite will be handed over to ISRO in the first week of February and it will be launched along with two other satellites which have been designed and developed by JPR Institute of Technology in Chennai and GH Raisoni College of Engineering in Maharashtra.
ISRO will combine the three satellites and launch what it will call the unity satellite in the last week of February. If all falls in place, the unity satellite will be launched through PSLV-C51 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota on February 28, 2021.
With the development of Sri Shakti Sat, Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology is the first private engineering college in the country to build a satellite to be launched by ISRO. With the installation of the Sri Shakti Sat Ground Station in collaboration with Serbia-based Community for Space Programme Development, the city-based private higher educational institution is a member of the Satellite Networked Open Ground Station (SATNOGS) project.
Director of the College, Sheelan Thangavelu, faculty members, students and others took part in the virtual event.