All-girls team of Mission ShakthiSAT meets President Murmu

New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) Girl students from rural Madhya Pradesh, who are part of a team developing a spacecraft -- ShakthiSAT -- that will be sent to the Moon, called on President Droupadi Murmu.

The students, part of a global, all-girls initiative of Chennai-based space start-up Space Kidz India, met the president at the Rashtrapati Bhavan last week and presented an update on the Mission ShakthiSAT under which they plan to send a satellite to the low-earth orbit in December and to the Moon next year.

"Mission ShakthiSAT stands as an unprecedented global model for STEM empowerment, uniting 12,000 students from 108 nations in the collaborative effort to design, develop, and deploy a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon," Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO of Space Kidz India, told PTI.

The participating students from Madhya Pradesh, many of whom are first-generation learners from rural and government schools, truly embody the nation's vision of inclusive growth, Kesan said.

She said the girls are transforming from eager learners into confident innovators, mastering orbital mechanics, satellite subsystems, and coding.

"Their remarkable journey reflects India's aspirations for a future driven by education, empowerment, and scientific progress," Kesan said.

As part of the mission, two payloads will be developed, one for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and another for the Moon.

The LEO payload will be launched from India's launchpad at Sriharikota and serve as a precursor to the Moon mission.

Discussions are also underway with iSpace, Japan, to explore a potential ride-share opportunity on their Resilience mission to the Moon.

During the interaction, the young students conveyed to Murmu how Mission ShakthiSAT has instilled in them confidence, resilience, and a sense of global belonging, Kesan said.

By engaging 108 students from each participating country, the mission seeks to nurture talent, foster international collaboration, and ignite interest in the vast possibilities of space science, ultimately creating a ripple effect that inspires millions of young girls worldwide, the statement said.

Chennai-headquartered Space Kidz India has launched 19 BalloonSats, three Suborbital Payloads, and four Orbital Satellites. It claims to be the first organisation in the world to have launched satellites with the help of high school and college students. PTI SKU RHL