The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) is recently in media spotlight for its “Nano Satellite Jugnu” and “Ultra High Speed Camera”. The IITK is gearing to launch “Jugnu” by the end of this year, and it has purchased the “ultra high speed camera” from England. The IITK has got green signal from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to launch its first and the nation’s lightest nano satellite Jugnu, by this December. The ISRO approval has come after the second design review demoed by the IITK authorities. The IITK has reported that “Jugnu” will be blasted off from Sriharikota, and it will be launched in the polar orbit.

Jugnu is 34 cm long and 10 cm wide; its weight is 3.5 kg. It is equipped with micro imaging and micro electronic system, and it will send images and data to base station at the IITK campus. The high-resolution images and the data send by the satellite will used in drought monitoring, wasteland management, urban planning and flood-risk management.

Prof. Sanjay Govind Dhande, the IITK Director, told that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IITK and ISRO for the project was inked in February, and ISRO conducted regular review sessions to ascertain the progress of the project. Dhande revealed that ISRO conducted first review session of Jugnu in April, and on Tuesday, the IITK technical team working on the project apprised Isro authorities of the release and antenna mechanism. Dhandhe said that the stipulated life time of the satellite is six months, but the satellite is expected to complete at least 12 months in the orbit.

Dhande reported that a team of 12 professors and 40 IITK students has been working on the project since last December. The team has been led by professor Nalinaksh S Vyas, the head of mechanical engineering department. Professor Nalinaksh S Vyas told that the entire project is expected to be completed within a budget of Rs 2-3 crore, but a similar project in any European country would have cost over Rs 10 crore.

The ISRO technical team headed by D Madhav Murthy, director (small satellite) reported that they have provide details about release of Jugnu by mother satellite in polar orbit and the satellite antenna set up in the institute premises to the ISRO authorities.

Meanwhile, the second big achievement of the IITK is its Ultra High Speed Camera, purchased from England. The Ultra High Speed Camera, installed at the Mechanical Engineering department of IITK, is capable of capturing 20 crore photos in a second. The cost of the camera is around Rs 2 crore. The camera has been installed with the help of Science and Technology division of the Indian government.
Prof. Dhande said that the Ultra High Speed Camera will help the students of the Mechanical Engineering in research work. The camera will help to test the design of their vehicles. It will help improve the quality of research at the IITK.