On 18th March 2009, Pratham received appreciation from Dr Michael Griffin, American physicist, aerospace engineer and the former Administrator of NASA. Here's an excerpt from the email he sent to us:
That's an awesome project the kids at IIT-Bombay are doing. I am most impressed. When I was in college, I was building radios -- not satellites! I wish them all the best. I don't think they need "luck". My two visits to India have left me more than a little impressed with Indian aerospace engineers.
I truly hope to visit again in some new capacity!
All the best.
Mike
Boeing has shown immense interest in student projects going on in IIT Bombay. As a part of this initiative, Boeing has provided substantial funding for student projects. Pratham, being the frontrunner project, has received a large chunk of the funding provided to IIT Bombay. This funding has been used for procurement of components necessary for the satellite. We are thankful to Boeing for their support.
On 7th August 2009, Dr Madhavan Nair, the then Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had visited Aerospace Department, IIT Bombay. He was presented a brief overview of the progress of the Pratham Team and the way ahead for Pratham. He was immensely impressed with Pratham's progress, and assured us of ISRO's support in our endeavours. The Memorandum of Understanding beween ISRO and IIT Bombay about the support and launch of Pratham was signed on 29th Sept 2009.
Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay had the opportunity to visit the 60th International Astronautical Congress held in the city of Daejeon in South Korea from 12th to 16th October. The Opening Ceremony included a welcome speech from the President of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Lee Myung-bak. Saptarshi was fortunate to meet many Heads of Space Agencies that participated in IAC 2009, including Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Ex-Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India, Dr. Charles Bolden, former Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States and Dr. Jean-Jacques Dordain, former Director General, European Space Agency (ESA).
Pratham Team has entered into a collaboration with Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), France; according to which Pratham shall switch on both the onboard transmitters over Paris. In return, IPGP shall share the TEC data collected over France and store Pratham Satellite’s TEC data at their TEC data storage facility. IPGP shall also help Pratham team in designing the Payload and processing Pratham Satellite’s TEC data. In this regard, Mr. Pierdavide Coïsson visited IITB in December 2009. Mr. Pierdavide Coïsson and Dr. Olivier Robert from IPGP, France came to IITB from 4th July to 10th July 2010 for discussions with Pratham team. They are accompanied by Ms. Marie Arnoux, Ms. Ingrid Blanchard, Mr. Boris Robert and Mr. Loïc Viens, students from Université Paris Diderot, France. The interaction across countries and discussions is helping both the teams enormously. Similarly Mr. Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, Ms. Haripriya, Mr. Jhonny Jha, Ms. Deepika Thakur and Mr. Sanyam Mulay had the opportunity to visit Paris in the first week of October 2010 and enjoy a wonderful time with the French team. It is felt such cross-country exchanges not only make the project stronger and gives it more exposure but also enriches the students with unique learning opportunities.