IIT Bombay Student Satellite Program
A student-run initiative to convert the institute to a Center of Excellence in Satellite and Space Technology
Pratham - IITB's First Satellite
I joined IITBSSP during the Integration and Testing (I&T) phase of our first satellite: Pratham. My very first task in the team was to design and manufacture a testbed to integrate the satellite with the Vibration table at ISRO's facility in UR Rao Satellite Centre, Bangalore. I visited ISRO to conduct some tests in the first three months. In the first seven months, Pratham launched into orbit. I presented the team's work at a conference in China at 11 months. Within a year the project gave enough accolades.
While all of these honours were significant, one year within the team, also made me realise the importance of people. I not only learnt how to make a satellite. But how to build and maintain a family. A favourite quote of mine given by a senior, "People leave people, not projects.". Having learnt so much in so less time, I decided to contribute more to the program and became the Project Manager and Systems Engineer of the Team.
I would later realize how those titles were used wrongly by us. Project Manager and Systems Engineer are roles which are always tugging on each other. One aiming for the project to be within budget while the other aiming for engineering perfection. At IITBSSP, we treated the role as the leader of the whole program. I was responsible for all tasks of a principal investigator, project manager and capture lead, while overseeing deputy system engieers.
Nevertheless, whatever maybe the title, I learned many different aspects of a mission lifecycle in the 4 years of IITBSSP. From working on space hardware, to launch and operations and then finally a new misson formulation to sustain a continued program. Satellite Lab was my home during my time at IIT Bombay. It not only gave me countless memories and valuable learnings but even my life-partner <3.
