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Kerala students to design satellite
Thiruvananthapuram, June 18
The students and
faculty of the Trinity College of Engineering here have started an
innovative initiative -- a student satellite project titled TASSAT,
which they aim to complete by 2018.
"With so many of ISRO
divisions and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) located here it has
become a natural space science city. So, a student satellite programme
is the perfect fit to rally the resources of any engineering educational
institution," said Arun Surendran, strategic director of the Trinity
Engineering College.
"We visited the Nanyang Technological
University to have a complete understanding of undertaking such an
ambitious project. They have a sustainable programmr and have been
continuously launching their satellites from India using ISRO's reliable
workhorse PSLV," he said.
"We would like to do a similar
programme at the Trinity that can continuously create Cubesats (a
miniature satellite for space research with volume of one liter and mass
no more than 1.33 kg and is made of commercially available
off-the-shelf components) and Nanosats (artificial satellite with a mass
ratio between one and 10 kg) over the years."
"For each group of
students graduating out of the team, we will add freshers so that the
team strength stays nearly constant," added Surendran.
This
ambitious project is sponsored by an Oman-based Al Adrak company. Hence
the name is of the satellite is Trinity Adrak Student Satellite
(TASSAT).
Various departments as well as the Advanced Design and
Manufacturing Lab of Trinity College will pool in their expertise
towards accomplishing this project in a timely and cost-effective
manner.
Mary Matilda, principal-in-charge of the college, said
TASSAT will be a great boost for all the departments as it shall open
doors for students in exploring new areas and sharpening their
engineering skills to develop something unique.