We all grow up with dreams — dreams that most often include getting jobs that are lucrative and offer security. This is why most youngsters today take the “practical” route when it comes to career prospects. But there are a few like Sourabh Kaushal who choose to explore boundaries. Here is a youngster from the small district of Yamunanagar in Haryana, the son of a steel factory worker and a housewife, who despite his humble background says, “Main space ki safaai karna chahta hu, I have a dream to make space exploration safer.”
The 23-year-old, who has embarked on a mission to implement and launch techniques to mitigate space debris, says, “I was interested in learning about life in space and wondered if there’s pollution in space, if there’s a transport system up there. I wanted to become a space/aerospace engineer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t crack the IIT entrance exam. Yet, I secured a seat in a private university near Delhi in Aerospace Engineering. But when I came to know the fee structure, I dropped it. In 2008, I enrolled in the department of electronics and communication in another college.” He never deviated from his path and worked toward his dream by accommodating time for space science in his free hours.
“I would go to the college Internet lab and search about things related to space science. In my second semester of B.Tech, I once bunked my lecture and was browsing for news related to space technology and came across space debris. It is a major concern in the field of space technology, so I started accessing its history and recent growth and found it fascinating.”
Lack of resources proved a tough obstacle. Sourabh says, “I didn’t know how to start the research work, or how to write the research paper and proposal. There were no labs or professors for space science in Yamunnagar.” He also had to put up with habitual naysayers and was dissuaded by his own friends and teachers. “They always said, ‘Why are you wasting your time in space research? Concentrate on your degree or you will fail in semester examinations’. They would laugh at me, but I kept my focus and proposed some new techniques to clean space junk.”
Explaining why it’s necessary to clear space waste he says, “The collisions of space waste at orbital velocities can be highly damaging to functioning satellites and can also result in more space debris.” Space debris is the collection of defunct objects in orbit around Earth. This includes everything from spent rocket stages, old satellites and fragments from disintegration, erosion and collisions. Since orbits overlap with new spacecrafts, debris may collide with operational spacecrafts and satellites.
After two months of reading and exploration, he discovered optimum methods of space debris mitigation. “At 18, I proposed a technique to mitigate space debris in 2008-09. That was my first research paper which I submitted to the International Space Elevator Consortium, US, and it was a runner-up for the Jerome Pearson Award 2010 by ISEC. I also presented papers on recycling of space debris, energy production from space debris and the like at various other international conferences and gained recognition.”
In the process, as he started inching closer to his dream the young mastermind won several awards which also include the “Young Innovator Award 2013” by Indira International Innovation Summit and Dr Kalpana Chawla Young Scientist Award among many other honours and international fellowships from renowned institutions making him a well-known face in the space research arena. He, along with Nishant Arora, Kellen McNally, J.P. Coadou, and UgurYildiz, have come up with some relevant solutions for space debris mitigation and are on the verge of getting their ideas implemented via various international conferences.
A hippie who camps out in different cities across the world to mitigate space junk, he also delivers special lectures at IITs and other prestigious institutions as a TEDx speaker. He hopes to become an astronaut with an Indian space agency someday. His vision is to acknowledge and encourage every innovator and put India on the forefront of space research. “During my talks and lectures, I meet many students who ask what can they do after completing engineering, how they will get good job in this field. India has only few aerospace divisions like the Isro, HAL, DRDO.
Due to poor infrastructure a lot of talent is unable to make it in this field. To provide them a platform and create jobs and awareness in the remotest villages, we have already started India’s first private space start-up Xovian Research and Technologies Pvt. Ltd. We go to villages and cities and empower youth about the opportunities in this field.”
