AP startup Taramandal teams up with PPF on clean space mission

Visakhapatnam Taramandal, a first-of-its-kind space startup in Andhra Pradesh being incubated at A-Hub Incubation Center, Andhra University, got an opportunity to work with Paris Peace Forum (PPF), a French Global Initiative that focuses on addressing growing global activities in outer space that calls for achieving sustainable use of outer space of mankind by 2030 by taking concrete actions to tackle the pressing challenge of space debris orbiting the earth.

As work in space today is very expensive and generates a lot of waste in orbit, the startup focuses on developing sustainable satellites and its subsystems that have various advantages that can addressthe issue of space debris and other critical space technologies.

Taramandal co-founder AVineel Judson told Bizz Buzz on Friday that they are scaling up their activity slowly to achieve their target of flying high in the space technology domain. The startup is formed by the alumni of Andhra University. Taramandal has been recognised by various organizations such as IN-SPACE, ISRO, Australian Space Agency (ASA) and Taiwan Space agency (TASA) for its critical innovative space technologies.

Taramandal is only the fourth company to achieve this rare feat from India to work closely with PPF. Being a strong proponent of long-term space sustainability with its vision of achieving an immaculate orbit, enabling safer space operations takes pride in joining the “Net Zero Space Initiative” initiated by PPF for enabling a sustainable space environment for the future of mankind.

AU Vice-Chancellor PVGD Prasad Reddy has appreciated the co-founders A Vineel Judson, M Gautam, D Rajesh, T Neelakanteswara Reddy and N Rama Jaya Lakshmi for achieving the rare feat of working together with PPF and wished best of luck for their future endeavours.

The founders believe as there is growing evidence that the perilous state of the space environment through human made space debris and crowded orbits may even impact the climate change crisis on earth. Space debris pose a significant threat to spacecraft as collisions with even small pieces of debris can causeserious damage to it. This is especially concerning for manned spacecraft, as the risk of injury or losslife has increased.

In addition to this, space debris also poses a threat to critical infrastructure such as communication and weather satellites, which are essential for modern life. More than 8,000 tonnes of space debris already in space endanger all space activities, they say. Astonishingly, as reported by NASA in 2019, between 2000-16, 41.3 per cent of all small satellites launched failed or partially failed.

CLEAN SPACE

• Startup founded by 5 alumni of Andhra University
• Taramandal’s sustainable satellites designed to reduce the amount of waste they generate in orbit
  
• Startup’s subsystems more efficient and reliable than traditional space components