A team of students from IIIT Hyderabad has qualified for the finale of the Indian CanSat Competition 2025, organised by IN-SPACe and ISRO. The event will take place from 25 to 30 October on the banks of the Narayani River in Uttar Pradesh.

The team – Team Brahmand, will travel to the venue to demonstrate and launch their CanSat on 28 October at 1:00pm IST (tentatively). The competition offers students a unique opportunity to experience what it takes to build and launch a miniature satellite, bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world space missions.

CanSat Competitions:

CanSat, short for “Can-sized Satellite” is a miniature satellite built in the shape of a soda can. Each year, the competition defines new dimensions and objectives, but the overarching theme remains the same. Participants must design, build, and launch a satellite that ascends to a height of around 1 kilometre and returns safely to the ground, all while transmitting telemetry data in real time. To succeed, a team must complete all the preliminary rounds of design reviews within the competition guidelines and boundaries and then survive the launch by a real sounding rocket.

Previous Success Stories:

IIIT Hyderabad has a strong legacy of actively participating and even winning CanSat competitions over the years. In 2024, the institute took part in the U.S edition of the CanSat Competition, which is open to teams from around the world. The IIITH team achieved an impressive 30th rank globally (among thousands of participants) and 2nd place among all Indian teams, marking a proud moment for the institute.

Indian CanSat Competition 2025:

While such competitions were a common thing in the US and other countries, it was only the second time being organised in India. It was done in a collaboration between ISRO and IN-SPACe, and the mission was to have an active Gyroscopic Stabilisation Mechanism for the descent phase, while maintaining a communication with the Ground Control, providing information about various sensor data in real time. The preparation for the competition began in July 2024, following the announcement of the Indian CanSat Competition 2025. The team representing IIIT Hyderabad at the national finale comprises six third year undergraduate students – Anushka Sharma, Chamarthy Madhan Sai Krishna, Harsh Kapoor, Tejasvini Ramaswamy, Vignesh Vembar Manikantan and Vijay S R.

The team is being guided by Prof. Harikumar Kandath, whose constant mentorship and support has been instrumental in making IIITH’s participation possible. The team also received constant support from Prof. Kavita Vemuri, who has mentored teams for the US edition of CanSat in the previous years. Labs like RRC and SPCRC also played vital roles in helping the team build the prototype.

October 2025