Bengaluru, Jan 21 (IANS): The state government has given administrative approval for the project of 'Designing and Launching of Nano-Satellite' by government school students at an estimated cost of Rs 1.9 crore.

C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT and S&T, said on Friday that an order to this effect has been issued by the government and this will be one among the 75 Nano-Satellites to be launched on the occasion of celebrating 75 years of Independence (Amrit Mahotsav- Platinum Jubilee) by the Union Government.

"The project named 'Karnataka Government School Students Satellite- KGS3Sat) will be implemented through Karnataka Science and Technological Promotion Society (KSTEPS) in collaboration with ISRO and Indian Technology Congress Association (ITCA). With regard to the implementation of the project, KSTEPS will enter into MoU with ITCA. The object of the project is to nurture scientific thinking and to promote technological awareness among the student community", the Minister said.

A technical experts committee will be constituted to monitor the implementation of the project and a timeline of 12 months has been set to complete it. As per the progress of the project, KSTEPS will release the amount to ITCA. To launch the satellite after designing the proposed KGS3Sat permission should be obtained from IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).

The remaining money in the department of Electronics, IT/BT and S&T after being granted for science and technology projects in the previous years has been utilised for the project.

Minister Ashwath Narayan had announced a few months back that a Nano-Satellite designing and launch project would be carried out by the government school students as part of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence.