Hyderabad student builds offline Satellite Weather Receiver for Himalayan villages
Hyderabad, October 22, 2026: In an innovation that connects science with social impact, Aagam Jain, a Grade 12 IB student at Indus International School, Hyderabad, has designed and built SummitSathi, a low-cost satellite weather receiver that brings cloud images directly from weather satellites to remote Himalayan villages without requiring internet or mobile connectivity.
Three receivers will be operating the device across 10 villages in the Seraj valley of Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, reaching more than 1,000 residents. According to the project team, the system will provide local weather information during monsoon communication outages, helping save lives.
Developed using readily available components, each receiver costs approximately ₹68,000. Three local operators have been trained to operate the system, enabling communities to access satellite weather images even when mobile networks fail. The device is not a cloudburst prediction system or a replacement for official weather warnings, but an additional source of local weather information.
Inspired by his experiences in the mountains, Aagam Jain developed the technology to address the vulnerability of remote communities during extreme weather events. He has filed an Indian patent application as the sole inventor and is scheduled to present the work at ECRS 2026, an international remote-sensing conference, from October 19 to 21.
Beyond SummitSathi, Aagam Jain has undertaken independent astronomy research, studying approximately 595 suspected planets around other stars using software he developed himself. He also recorded Hyderabad’s night-sky brightness over 24 months at 25 locations, creating a ground-level dataset on urban light pollution.
His commitment to science outreach extends to education. More than 350 students have received his self-published astrophotography book, A Window to the Universe. Through his initiative, Summit Stargazer, he seeks to make astronomy accessible to students and communities.
Away from science, he also captains his school’s athletics team of around 170 students and competes at the national level in sprinting and hammer throw.
His work reflects a larger possibility: that young innovators can move beyond academic research to develop practical, affordable solutions for communities while inspiring the next generation to explore science.