**Bhubaneswar:** The students of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla in Sambalbur district have been lauded by PM Modi for indigenously developing and the successful launch of the KALAM SAT, a communication satellite named after former President Abdul Kalam.
During his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on Sunday he said, “We take pride in the fact that the satellites developed by our students have reached space. On 24th January ‘KALAM SAT’ fashioned by our students had been launched. The Sounding Rockets made by Odisha university students have also created many records.”
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research. They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
Students of the VSSUT have also made it to the Limca Book of Records as the only students’ body in India which have developed and launched a sounding rocket.