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5 years ago

India to launch world’s lightest satellite

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India is due to launch what it says is the world's lightest satellite ever to be put into orbit.

Weighing only 1.26kg (2.6lb), the Kalamsat-V2 has been made by students belonging to a space education firm.

It will help ham radio operators and "inspire schoolchildren to become the scientists and engineers of the future", India's space agency says.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will launch the satellite from its Sriharikota space centre, reports BBC.

Isro chief K Sivan has claimed that "Kalamsat is the lightest satellite to be ever built and launched into orbit".

It is equipped to serve as a communications satellite for ham radio transmission, a form of wireless communication used by amateurs for non-commercial activities.

An even lighter satellite, weighing 64 grams and built by the same group of students, was launched on a four-hour mission for a sub-orbital flight from a Nasa facility in the US in June 2017. Sub-orbital spaceflights technically enter space, but don't get into orbit.

Kalamsat-V2 was made by students belonging to Space Kidz India, a Chennai-based space education firm. So far nine satellites made by Indian students have found a place on space rockets.

In a first, the Indian space agency is also going to reuse a stage of the rocket that will

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