<strong>All about UNITYsat: A space mission undertaken by Indian students</strong>
Apart from space agencies like NASA and ISRO, tech giants like Amazon, SpaceX and One Web are also aiming to widen their reach as far as the outer space. Their goal is to launch satellites to amplify connectivity all across the universe. Drawing inspiration from these firms, a group of Indian students from several reputed universities across the country have collaborated to conceptualise, design and develop a constellation of 75 satellites named UNITYsat, that is scheduled to be launched weeks or days before the celebrations of 75th Independence Day of India. Here’s everything else known so far about this project.
What is UNITYsat all about?
UNITYsat is a space mission undertaken by a group of young Indian scholars to mark the 75 years of the country’s independence. UNITYsat, a constellation of 75 satellites is custom-designed to honour 75 years of India’s independence and is set to advance the country in the space race of touching the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO).
The project had been undertaken by the students of Chandigarh University, IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur since 2020, but was only recently brought to the limelight when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about this space mission during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) conclave in December 2021. As per reports, this student-led mission has been designed to promote the Internet of Things (IoT) in outer space.
The Indian Technology Congress Association (ITCA) in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have been appointed to oversee this space mission by the Indian government. In fact, ISRO is responsible for the launch of this mission as soon as the satellites are ready to travel to the Lower Earth Orbit.
Purpose of this mission
According to ISRO officials, UNITYsat is going to be the first experimental long-range inter-satellite and ground communication system to demonstrate IoT in outer space. Moreover, this mission is expected to provide new insights into the kind of materials required to develop, test and deploy a constellation of satellites. This satellite project will also exhibit live audio streams and broadcast from the LEO region as and when the satellites hover over India. The constellation of satellites is expected to remain operational for a period of two to four years in the Lower Earth Orbit.