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Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has initiated a space program named ‘SS AMU SAT’ with the approval of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) under the Department of Space. This satellite program is dedicated to the founder of AMU, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

The SS AMU SAT is a 3U CubeSat launched by the AMU Robo Club in November 2021. It has a multi-purpose mission that includes examining economic growth in India’s most impoverished regions through satellite imagery. It also aims to deploy an in-house image compression technology for fast multimedia transmission.

Apart from its main objectives, the satellite will also serve as a testbed for various internally developed satellite subsystems. The project was submitted to IN-SPACe for approval, registration, frequency allocation, and eventual launch in January 2023.

The proposal underwent a review conducted by the Student Satellite Committee, headed by Dr. P.K. Jain, Director (PMAD) at IN-SPACe, in September 2023. It received approval on the condition that AMU would establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IN-SPACe, outlining all the activities related to the development and launch of SS AMU SAT into Lower Earth Orbit.

The student team, led by Poorti Varshney and guided by Dr. C. A. Prabhakar (Former Project Director, ISRO) and Faraz Ahmad (a 2013 alumnus), has been actively involved in the project’s development. The initiative has received technical assistance from AMU alumni currently employed at ISRO, as well as input from industrial experts worldwide.

A tentative launch date for the SS AMU SAT project is set for six months from now.

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