Kushinagar, 15 June (HS): Successful

rocket launch system tests were carried out here as part of the preparations

for a model rocketry student competition slated for October of this year.

The Astronautical Society of India, in collaboration with the Indian National

Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) and the Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO), carried out the launch test on Saturday and

Sunday. Thrust Tech India Pvt. Ltd.

designed the model rocket launcher, which will be utilized for the forthcoming

'IN-SPACe CANSAT and Model Rocketry India Student Competition 2024-25' in

Kushinagar.

The competition aims to provide undergraduate students in India with hands-on

learning opportunities in model rocketry and satellite systems. These trial

launches were also intended to assess the launch site's appropriateness and

other needs like as safety margins, communication range, area recovery

conditions, and so on. It is part of the preparation phase for the student

competition, which will take place later this year (October-November 2025), and

will feature student-built models and CANSATs, according to an IN-SPACe

release. CANSATs are small satellites that fit inside soft drink cans and are

used to provide students hands-on experience building real-world space

projects. Students' CANSAT payloads are launched to a few hundred meters height

by a sounding rocket and landed with a parachute. The competition aims to

provide undergraduate students in India with hands-on learning opportunities in

model rocketry and satellite systems.

The rocket was fired at 5:14 PM and

33 seconds, reaching a height of 1.1 kilometers. Following this, a tiny

satellite (payload) emerged. As soon as it descended to 5 metres, its parachute

deployed, and the satellite landed within 400 metres of the ground, according

to ISRO scientist Abhishek Singh, who was present at the test site.

According to Vinod Kumar, Director Promotion Directorate at IN-SPACe, the

purpose of this event is to pique the interest of youngsters in the region and

throughout India in space technology.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi