A Student’s Space-Tech Research: How AI is Keeping an Eye on Satellites’ Health

Himachal Pradesh: Utkarsh Anand, a student from IIT Mandi, explained in his project Astra AI that satellites vital for communication, navigation, weather forecasting, and defense sometimes fail without any warning. Such failures can lead to the loss of mission-critical data, heavy financial losses, and disruption of essential services.

Utkarsh said that to solve this problem, he developed Astra AI, a system that uses AI and predictive analytics to monitor satellites’ health. It analyzes real-time data, detects anomalies, and alerts about potential failures in advance. Utkarsh explained that it can be called a “digital doctor for satellites”, as it promotes proactive decision-making instead of reactive maintenance.

He further explained that using Astra AI can increase satellites’ lifespan, reduce mission failures, and make space operations more efficient. With the rapid growth of private space companies and the increasing number of satellites, such intelligent monitoring systems will become essential for future space infrastructure.

Utkarsh also shared that the Astra AI concept won 1st prize in the Pitcher Perfect competition at IIT Mandi’s Tech Fest, XPECTO. He added that in the future, the goal is to deploy it in real satellite missions, improve the AI models, and eventually turn it into a space-tech startup