On June 22, 2017, NASA launched KalamSat, a 64-gram, 3D-printed experimental satellite designed by 18-year-old student Rifath Sharook and his team from Pallapatti, Tamil Nadu, marking a suborbital flight for both student-built payloads and aerospace manufacturing, according to primary reports.
The Record-Breaking Design of KalamSat
Weighing less than a smartphone or a hen’s egg, KalamSat measured a fraction under four centimeters on a side, according to baseline accounts. According to the Times of India as cited in regional coverage, Sharook stated that the spacecraft’s primary role was to demonstrate the performance of 3D-printed carbon fibre under launch loads and microgravity. The structure was 3D-printed from reinforced carbon fibre polymer. Packed inside the minuscule frame were an onboard computer and eight built-in sensors designed to measure acceleration, rotation, and Earth’s magnetic field.
Did you know? KalamSat was built on a budget of roughly one lakh rupees (about $1,500), proving that advanced aerospace experiments do not always require multi-million-dollar programs.
The Cubes in Space Competition Path
The route to NASA’s Wallops Island facility ran through the “Cubes in Space” contest, co-organized by NASA and a global education company named I Doodle Learning, according to background records. The 2017 challenge drew roughly 86,000 entries from students across dozens of countries. Selectors chose Sharook’s design from that pool. Back home, Space Kidz India, a Chennai-based organization led by Srimathy Kesan, supervised and aided the team. Sharook, the son of a science teacher, previously won a national young-scientist prize at age 15 for developing a helium weather balloon.
Suborbital Flight and Recovery
KalamSat flew on a Terrier-Orion sounding rocket for a 240-minute suborbital mission, spending approximately 12 minutes in microgravity before returning to Earth, according to mission logs. The payload was recovered so the team could analyze the data collected during flight. Following the mission, the Tamil Nadu government awarded Sharook and his team 10 lakh rupees as a token of recognition, according to regional reports.
From Suborbital to Orbital: The KalamSat-V2 Successor
Building on the 2017 suborbital success, Sharook, Mohammed Abdul Kashif, and the Space Kidz team developed KalamSat-V2, a 1.26-kilogram satellite, according to project records. In January 2019, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched KalamSat-V2 into orbit using a PSLV rocket. ISRO flew the satellite free of charge, utilizing the rocket’s spent fourth stage as an orbital platform. Indian officials highlighted the spacecraft as the lightest satellite placed in orbit, constructed in six days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed KalamSat?
KalamSat was designed by 18-year-old Rifath Sharook and a team of six teammates from Pallapatti, a small town in the Karur district of Tamil Nadu, India.
What materials were used to build the satellite?
The satellite’s structure was 3D-printed using reinforced carbon fibre polymer, housing an onboard computer and eight indigenous sensors.
How much did the project cost?
The project was completed on a budget of approximately one lakh rupees, roughly $1,500.
How long did KalamSat stay in space during its 2017 launch?
The suborbital flight lasted for a total of 240 minutes, which included roughly 12 minutes spent in microgravity.
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