With a view to launch satellites and conduct scientific investigations in space in a cost-effective manner, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is developing a CubeSat or a miniature satellite.?
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A team of seven, comprising faculty and PhD scholars from the Bengaluru-based institute, is developing CubeSat which will carry an Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph payload.
¡°The cost of deployment is very low with CubeSats. It can piggyback on bigger satellites and doesn¡¯t need a dedicated launcher. There is an increasing trend worldwide to develop and launch CubeSats.
Even NASA has a CubeSat launch initiative,¡± said Joice Mathew, from IIA team. Mathew added that the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph payload will look for transient events, supernova explosions, sudden brightness variations of astro sources.
¡°We have already developed the prototype of Ultraviolet Imager while the Spectrograph is still in design phase,¡± Mathew added.
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The team has already finalised the design for the CubeSat. ¡°Many components to build CubeSat is available in market we can modify it to fit in the payload,¡± he said. The same team has also developed a telescope called the Lunar Ultraviolet Cosmic Imager (LUCI).?