Rifath Sharook: KalamSat
KalamSat — 64-gram 3D-printed payload flown on a NASA sounding rocket.
Working with Chennai's Space Kidz India, Rifath led the design of a 3.8 cm, 64-gram payload with a 3D-printed reinforced carbon-fibre shell, an onboard computer and eight indigenous sensors. Its job was to test whether a 3D-printed structure could survive launch and about twelve minutes of microgravity. It flew on 22 June 2017 on a NASA sounding rocket from Wallops Island as part of the Cubes in Space education programme. Space Kidz India's follow-on Kalamsat-V2 was launched by ISRO on PSLV-C44 in January 2019.
Two corrections to the viral version: NASA provided the rocket for an education programme run by a third party, it did not "select" the design from 86,000 entries, and the flight was sub-orbital, so "satellite" is a courtesy title. The engineering achievement stands without the embroidery.
IP note
No public IP record for KalamSat or Space Kidz India.
Recognition
Cubes in Space 2017; Kalamsat-V2 on ISRO PSLV-C44 (2019).
What this means for a student inventor in India
[Editor: 120–200 words connecting this story to the Indian route — Section 6 (any true inventor may apply), provisional vs complete specification, disclosure at fairs (Section 31), renewals, and who owns what when a school is involved. Link to the relevant MYCrave guide.]
Related young innovators
- Angad Daryani — Shark
- Taylor Wilson — Nuclear fusor built at 14; later radiation detectors
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier — First snow vehicle
Sources
[Editor: list the 2–4 primary sources from the research notes for this entry, with the date checked.]
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