Situated in the dense wooded campus in Valiamala, some 20 km away from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology was established in 2007 and designated as a Deemed to be University under section 3 of the UGC Act 1956, by the Department of Space. It is the first university in Asia with a focused outlook on space science, space technology and applications. The institute was set up with the mandate of encouraging, equipping and engaging young brilliant minds in space science and allied areas to cater to the Indian Space Programme. IIST offers a complete range of undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral programmes with a specific focus on space science, technology and applications.
IIST was formally inaugurated on 14 September 2007 by Dr G Madhavan Nair, the then Chairman, ISRO, and was provisionally housed in the premises of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The founding fathers of the institute — Dr Nair and Dr BN Suresh, who was also the first Director of IIST — played very important roles in the formation of the institute, facilitating its establishment and contributing to its vision. Dr Suresh piloted the institute from the conception of the idea to its realization in a permanent campus near Thiruvananthapuram in 2010. The institute had the enviable reputation among all educational institutions since it had Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the renowned technocrat and former President of India, as its very first Chancellor. Prof UR Rao, the eminent space scientist and one of the former Chairmen, ISRO, guided the institute as its second Chancellor from 2015 to 2017. Dr Suresh assumed charge as the institute’s third Chancellor from November 2017. Presently, the institute is governed by Dr S Somanath, Chairman ISRO, and Secretary, Department of Space, as the President of the Governing Body, and Dr Unnikrishnan Nair, the present Director; Dr Unnikrishnan is also the Director, VSSC.
The institute has two technology departments focusing on space technology and five science and interdisciplinary departments focusing on space science and applications. There are three undergraduate programmes and fifteen postgraduate programmes spanning all the departments at IIST, making it one of the major centres for learning in space science, technology and applications.
IIST currently offers BTech in Aerospace Engineering and BTech in Electronics and Communication Engineering (Avionics), with 75 seats each, and a dual degree programme with BTech in Engineering Physics with 24 seats. The
innovative feature in all three streams is that the students will have an opportunity to learn in-depth in specific areas
needed for space programmes and also the generic requirements of engineering and science courses. The toppers of Aerospace Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering branches undertake a sponsored Master’s Programme at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA, before joining ISRO. The 9-month programme is financially supported under the DoS-Caltech Professor Satish Dhawan Endowment Fellowship.
All Images Courtesy: Shri Anulbhaven Audio-Visual Lab IIST
IIST has a strong connection with different centres and units of ISRO, and the under graduates of the institute get different opportunities to work with ISRO’s eminent scientists with internships and pursue BTech/ MTech projects
on live space programmes. The institute has many centres of excellence carrying out multidisciplinary research.
ADMISSIONS
IIST undergraduate admission is through the JEE advanced examination though it is not part of the JoSA for IITs. IIST makes its own rank list from candidates from the JEE advanced examination, and the selection is carried out as per the institute norms. The master’s programme admissions are through CCMT, which is a common platform for candidates to apply for MTech/ MArch/ MPlan programmes, based on their GATE score for regular candidates. IIST also admits sponsored candidates from ISRO and other national labs including the armed forces. For the doctoral programmes, IIST admits students who qualify GATE/ UGC/ CSIR NET-JRF/ JEST or equivalent exams. Some departments conduct their own examination for the initial screening of the candidates. The academic programmes have been formulated to strengthen the fundamentals, experience the realities through practical work, and to enhance the knowledge and understanding in the areas relevant and related to space. Also, the programmes
so envisaged ensure adequate exposure in the emerging fields which will lead to experience knowledge-synthesis.
FOCUS ON SPACE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
1.Ponmudi Climate Observatory : The Ponmudi Climate Observatory, situated on the Ponmudi hilltop of the Western Ghats in India, is equipped with state-of-the-art field instrumentation for studying aerosol and cloud microphysics. The high-altitude placement of the IIST-PCO on the windward side of the Western Ghats during the summer monsoon season and often within or beneath the cloud layer offers a natural laboratory for an improved understanding of aerosol-cloud processes. Furthermore, in-house design and development of instrumentation for aerosol studies is a stronghold of IIST-PCO. The observatory is one of its kind in the country,
with provisions for balloon-borne experiments in the frontiers of atmospheric science, astrobiology, and space technology development.
2.Small-Spacecraft Systems and PAyload CEntre (SSPACE) : There is a dedicated centre with an objective of conceptualising, evolving design and development of small spacecraft systems and payloads, and also for establishing required equipment and facilities. A number of small satellite projects have been initiated at SSPACE, with the core objective of design and realisation of a space-borne hardware. One of the first student satellites was INSPIRESat-1, jointly developed by IIST and the Laboratory of Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, to provide education and space science research to the students of the collaborating universities. Two other universities who contributed in this journey include NTU, Singapore, and NCU, Taiwan. One of the recent space missions of IIST-PILOT and ARIS-2 payloads were successfully launched on the POEM2 platform of PSLV-C55 on 22 April 2023. This mission is one of the examples of collaborative work carried out at IIST, between a private industry and ISRO. The PILOT body was made by m/s L&T with 3D additive metal printing using the design at IIST, and the team at VSSC carried out stringent flight qualification requirements.
- Ground Station : A part of the Small Spacecraft Systems and Payload Centre (SSPACE) of IIST, a fully operational satellite ground station facility has been established. The objective of the station is to carry out tracking, telemetry and commanding (TT&C) operations of student satellite missions. It also provides tracking and telemetry support for the stratospheric balloon borne payloads (radio-sound experiments) launched periodically from Ponmudi Climate Observatory of IIST. The VHF/UHF antenna system consists of a high-gain circularly polarised crossed Yagi antenna mounted on the tracking pedestal, along with low-noise amplifiers (LNA) and associated phasing feeder network. The operational S-band antenna system consists of a high-gain parabolic mesh dish of 4.5 m diameter with a rectangular RCP/LCP septum polariser feed and LNAs. The ground station facilitates learning and hands-on experience for students in the field of radio communication, satellite tracking, antenna positioning/control systems along with telemetry data visualisation/processing, real-time commanding and mission operations. This facility is used for transmitting the necessary scientific data to and from the IIST ground station to the satellites and other balloon payloads.
3.Advanced Space Research Group (ASRG) : Recognizing the imperative of strengthening and streamlining IIST’s research environment and catching up with the advances in the Indian space sector and to facilitate the seamless integration of ideas, expertise and know-how between IIST and ISRO centres for futuristic space programs, an Advanced Space Research Group (ASRG) was constituted at IIST.
4.Space Technology Innovation and Incubation Cell (STIIC) : In line with the expanding entrepreneurial ecosystem within the country, IIST has established the Space Technology Innovation and Incubation Centre (STIIC) at its campus. Through STIIC, IIST strives to achieve the mission to foster the spirit of innovation, act as a pedestal to assist knowledge driven enterprises to prosper under scientific guidance of IIST and ISRO, and thereby mould successful entrepreneurs. Five companies have been incubated and are functioning actively under STIIC with many more in the pipeline. One of the start-up companies, Bhuh Pramaan under Department of ESS engaged in developing innovative solutions in satellite image and geo-spatial data processing have successfully completed projects funded by NABARD, IIST and Department of Horticulture, Government of Karnataka. M/s Vashishtha Research Pvt Ltd., the start-up company incubated under Department of Aerospace Engineering, has successfully developed and delivered a four-axis filament winding machine to IIT Jammu and successfully developed and delivered a halogen lamp based thermal excitation system to CMSE/ ISRO.
STUDENT ROCKET PROGRAMME
In addition to the small satellite programme, students are involved in designing and building sounding rockets. The students of 2008-2010 batches had undertaken a project to design and realize a sounding rocket, project VYOM, with extensive support of experts from VSSC and supervision of the faculty at IIST. Vyom is the first rocket designed by students in India. It is a payload designed to monitor the acceleration, velocity and altitude of the rocket. Recently, IIST has been involved in developing hybrid rocket experimentations, which are proposed as part of the students’ hands-on experiments in reusable launch vehicle technologies. IIST Hybrid Rocket Experiments (IHRX) is a student-driven program which will be mentored by the faculty from the institute and various scientists from ISRO.
Beyond the confines of classrooms, the students of IIST find time in organizing several outreach programmes, trying to transform the lives of the less advantaged sections of the society. The institute comes alive with vibrant celebrations and fests which include Dhanak,the cultural fest; Conscientia, the tech fest; the sports day, MUN (model united nations) and other such events which infuse the campus with a kaleidoscope of colours, adding dynamism and energy to the academic environment. There are many other clubs like AeroClub and Yogaclub, which are active in the institute. In conclusion, the true value of an institute lies in creating responsible and good human beings who will take on the onerous task of nation building and development. As an academic and research university, IIST engages with the frontiers of knowledge, recognizes the importance of providing value-based education, of making judgments about the relative importance of different subjects, and of giving equal importance to the issue of character and morality. The vision of IIST is to be a world class educational and research institute contributing significantly to space endeavours.
*The writer is Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace, IIST, Thiruvananthapuram.
