World's smallest satellite 'KalamSat' built by Indian teens launched by NASA

 18-year-old Rifath Sharook of India build smallest

satellite :-

Although the space shuttle program may have been temporarily halted in the United States, NASA is still alive and well — and now, thanks to 18-year-old Rifath Sharook of India, are launching their smallest-ever satellite into space. The satellite is called 'KalamSat,' named after Indian nuclear scientist, pioneer in the aeronautics field, and former president, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, and is the first-ever to be manufactured by 3-D printing, a tech trend we don't see disappearing (or even going away a bit) anytime soon.

Rifath's satellite beat out of a slew of other inventions at a competition jointly sponsored by NASA and 'I Doodle Learning' called 'Cubes in Space,' in an effort to bring new technologies and devices to space and solve current quandries as well as new ones. "The main role of the satellite will be to demonstrate the performance of 3-D printed carbon fibre.Despite being from a small town in Tamil Nadu called Pallapatti, Rifath does have bigger than big-city dreams for the 240 minute-long mission and his aeronautics career — and has proved his scientific prowess in the past, too.

hen he was just 15, he invented a two-and-a-half pound helium weather balloon from a ground in Kelambakkam, as a part of the Young Scientist India-2015 competition held by Space Kidz India. (Plus, in the past, NASA's also had assistance from other teens, like the 17-year-old Brit who noticed an error in the International Space Station data.)

Small satellite "KALAMSAT":-

About :-

  Small satellites, miniaturized satellites, or smallsats, are satellites of low mass and size, usually under 500 kg (1,100 lb). While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites can be built small to reduce the large economic cost of launch vehicles and the costs associated with construction. Miniature satellites, especially in large numbers, may be more useful than fewer, larger ones for some purposes – for example, gathering of scientific data and as signal relays. Technical challenges in the construction of small satellites may include the lack of sufficient power storage or of room for a propulsion system.

             One rationale for miniaturizing satellites is to reduce the cost: heavier satellites require larger rockets with greater thrust that also has greater cost to finance. In contrast, smaller and lighter satellites require smaller and cheaper launch vehicles and can sometimes be launched in multiples. They can also be launched 'piggyback', using excess capacity on larger launch vehicles. Miniaturized satellites allow for cheaper designs as well as ease of mass production.

Another major reason for developing small satellites is the opportunity to enable missions that a larger satellite could not accomplish, such as:

• Constellations for low data rate communications
• Using formations to gather data from multiple points
• In-orbit inspection of larger satellites
• University-related research