Help us put an Indian Innovation in Space

Most of us have seen and appreciated Alfonso Cuaron’s film Gravity. While the plot of the hit Hollywood film is fictional, the threat posed by the alarming amount of space junk surrounding Earth is very real. But what should be great to know is the fact that the solution can come from India. Sourabh Kaushal (23 Years), Electronics and Communication Engineer has been doing research on space debris mitigation for the last five years and has proposed some new techniques to clean up space junk.

Space debris, also known as orbital debris and space junk is the collection of defunct objects in orbit around Earth. This includes everything from spent rocket stages to old satellites that have been lost in orbit. Since orbits overlap with new spacecrafts, debris are prone to collide with an operational spacecraft. The problem has been around for a long time, but attention to this fact has started gaining momentum only in the last few years.

Sourabh has been working on his project for the last six years and it has has been appreciated by many prominent scientists from NASA, ISRO, and Centre for space resources. Also, he has been the recipient of many international and national awards like the Jerome Pearson Award by ISEC (USA), Dr. Kalpana Chawla Young Scientist Award, Young Innovator Award, and SAM Global Award for Youth. In addition, recently his research work has been appreciated and recognized by the Vice President of India Sh. M.H.Ansari, ISRO & NASA Scientists.

Kaushal’s proposed system provides multiple solutions to problems faced in space remediation. However, a lack of funding means that his research work is in a fix. But, you can help him. Sourabh has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for his research work. The funds (Rs 1 Lac) will help him create the De-Orbit Kit Technique to be showcased to scientists from NASA and other relevant space research organisations in the IAASS conference to be held in Germany. The organisers have already waived off his registration fee for Euro 1600.

Haven’t we always moaned the fact that not many cutting edge innovations come from India? This is our chance to help a fellow Indian solve one of the biggest space problems present today. Contribute to his crowdfunding campaign, named Project Gravity, on TheHotStart.com and support him in his passion and hard work.