ShakthiSAT: A Moonshot Driven By The Power Of Schoolgirls

As India debates how the Women's Reservation Bill should move from constitutional promise to political practice, a very different representation story is already taking shape far from Parliament. This one is unfolding quietly in classrooms and labs, through coding lessons, soldering irons, space science modules, and the determination of schoolgirls who are being told, early and clearly, that space is not beyond their reach.

It is called Mission ShakthiSAT, an ambitious, all girls satellite initiative led by Chennai based Space Kidz India. Framed as a global first, the project places young women not on the margins of a science programme, but firmly at its centre. These girls are not simply participants. They are being trained to conceptualise, design, and execute the narrative of a space mission of their own.

For the team behind ShakthiSAT, this is not just about putting hardware in orbit. It is about what happens when opportunity itself is intentionally designed to include those who have historically been excluded. As Dr. Srimathy Kesan, Founder and CEO of Space Kidz India, Chennai, puts it during an interaction with NDTV, "Shakti, as you know, is woman power."

A push from Rashtrapati Bhavan

Among the many milestones of the project, one moment stands out as a powerful catalyst. In 2025, a delegation of ShakthiSAT students and organisers was invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Droupadi Murmu. The group included girls from government schools in Madhya Pradesh, presenting their work on what they described as a world first satellite mission led entirely by young women.

During the interaction, the students spoke about how the programme had given them confidence, technical skills, and a sense of belonging to a global scientific community. President Murmu praised their work as a remarkable milestone in India's pursuit of inclusive education and innovation.

The symbolism of that meeting resonated deeply with the girls. They were meeting India's first tribal woman President, a leader whose life journey itself stands as a reminder of what is possible when barriers are crossed. Space Kidz India describes the visit not as a ceremonial photo opportunity, but as an emotionally transformative moment. For many of the students, the meeting reinforced a powerful message that no dream is too high, and that leadership in science, like leadership in public life, is possible regardless of background.

In a country where debates on women's representation often become mired in political arithmetic, the ShakthiSAT team offers a different framing. For them, representation is also about visibility, access, skill building, and confidence. These are qualities shaped in classrooms and laboratories, then carried into research centres, boardrooms, and mission control rooms.

Twelve thousand girls, 108 countries

ShakthiSAT is ambitious by design. The project aims to bring together 12,000 students from 108 countries in a collaborative satellite mission. Its organisers describe it as a model for global STEM empowerment and space diplomacy.

Dr. Kesan traces the programme's philosophy to a concept India often cites on the world stage. "This whole idea evolved from Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," she explains, referring to the belief that the world is one family.

The intent, she says, is to build an ecosystem where girls from countries with little or no space infrastructure can still access high quality space education and meaningfully contribute to a shared mission.

Speaking to NDTV, she recalls how earlier girls led satellite initiatives revealed both the appetite and the need for a larger, international effort. Conversations with women leaders from regions without independent space agencies underscored the same point: aspiration exists, even when infrastructure does not.

The number 108, central to the mission, carries both cultural and cosmic resonance. Asked why that many countries, Dr. Kesan smiles and calls it "our number", while also noting its connection to lunar cycles and Indian tradition.

From learning to launch

ShakthiSAT is structured as a pipeline rather than a slogan. It begins with education. The mission was soft launched on January 16, 2025, with the introduction of a space curriculum consisting of 21 modules. These cover core subjects such as physics, mathematics, orbital mechanics, systems engineering, and communication systems.

The curriculum is offered in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Hosted on the Zoho Learn platform, it is made available free of cost to participants around the world.

The reasoning is deliberate. Before students are asked to work with electronics or hardware, organisers want them to understand why space systems function as they do. "Before getting these children to use technology, we wanted them to understand why they have to do this," Dr. Kesan explains. "That is why the curriculum comes first."

From theory, the programme moves to practice. After completing the modules, each participating country appoints a woman ambassador known as a Devi. Each Devi selects one outstanding student to travel to India for hands on payload integration and mission exposure.

Two spacecraft, one vision

The technical ambition of ShakthiSAT extends beyond a single satellite. The mission plans two payloads. One will operate in Low Earth Orbit, while the other is envisioned as part of a lunar mission. The Earth orbit launch is intended as a preparatory step, a way to demonstrate capability before attempting a more complex lunar objective.

That phased approach mirrors the broader philosophy of the programme. Build skills, demonstrate confidence, then attempt the larger leap. For many young women in STEM, this kind of stepped progression is exactly what has been missing.

Dr. Kesan describes the arc simply. After training 12,000 girls, the mission plans to select one student from each participating country, bring them to India, and together build a satellite for the Moon.

She also speaks of plans for a girl mascot associated with the mission, symbolising hope and aspiration for every girl child watching from the side lines.

Big dreams, hard numbers

The mission does not shy away from hard realities. Space is expensive. Asked directly about funding, Dr. Kesan offers a frank estimate. "This would cost about Rs 200 crores," she says, before adding candidly, "hands up, no money."

Her vision relies on collective participation rather than elite patronage. She argues that if ordinary citizens contribute modest sums, space exploration can become a shared national endeavour rather than a distant spectacle. In her words, small individual contributions could allow people to "go to the moon" many times over.

Why ShakthiSAT matters

The debate around women's reservation in legislatures ultimately revolves around voice and presence. Who gets to sit at the table where national priorities are decided.

ShakthiSAT makes a parallel argument in the domain of science and technology. Representation, it suggests, also means who gains early access to complex skills, who receives mentorship, and who is encouraged to imagine themselves as engineers, coders, mission designers, and leaders.

In Dr. Kesan's view, the mission is also a direct response to the gender gap within the space sector. The goal is not just participation, but leadership. The pipeline, she argues, must extend beyond classrooms to boardrooms.

That is why the Rashtrapati Bhavan meeting carried such symbolic importance. For the girls involved, it served as affirmation at the highest level that their aspirations were legitimate.

ShakthiSAT also positions itself as a form of soft power. By connecting girls across continents, it frames space as a platform for shared learning, cooperation, and peace.

Its most audacious claim is this: that a spacecraft can carry more than instruments. It can carry an idea. That when girls rise, humanity rises with them.

As India works out how to implement representation in politics, ShakthiSAT offers another model altogether. One built not on quotas, but on curriculum, capability, and confidence. The girls who walked into Rashtrapati Bhavan are not waiting for history to include them. They are already engineering their place in it, first through lessons, then payloads, and perhaps, eventually, through a spacecraft carrying Shakti beyond Earth.