KATHMANDU: A group of Chepang students has made history by successfully launching Nepal’s first student-built nano-satellite, Slippers2Sat (S2S), on December 10, 2025. Developed by Antarikchya Pratisthan Nepal, the satellite was deployed from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center aboard the Kinetica-1 rocket at 10:01 am NST, following the rocket lift-off at 9:45 am NST.

The 1.2 kg, 1U CubeSat was entirely designed and built with active participation of nine Chepang students under the guidance of six engineers. The satellite’s journey spanned ideation in Chitwan, manufacturing in China, assembly in Nepal, testing in India and China, and finally its launch—a process that provided the students hands-on experience in satellite engineering.

Photo Courtesy: Antarikchya Pratisthan Nepal/facebook

According to the APN, "S2S hosts student-built VIS and NIR cameras for Earth imaging, a software-based amateur-radio digipeater, and a compact Quad-Mag payload designed to study ELF and ULF magnetic disturbances. Its mission is supported by a magnetorquer-based ADCS and UHF uplink/downlink, completing a satellite that reflects both technical ambition and the students’ extraordinary learning journey. (amateur frequency)."

Prime Minister Sushila Karki congratulated the students, calling their achievement “beautiful and commendable” and expressing hope that it will inspire children and youth across Nepal to pursue science and technology. The Chinese Embassy in Nepal also praised the launch as a major boost to Nepal’s educational space programs.

ActorPhoto Courtesy: Antarikchya Pratisthan Nepal/facebook

Rajesh Hamal highlighted the symbolic importance of the project, noting that it started with Chepang students who once struggled to even get slippers, and now culminates in building a satellite. “From Slippers to SATELLITE,” he remarked, underscoring the project’s social and scientific significance.

"The Slippers2Sat (S2S) satellite is an educational project jointly launched by Antarikchya Pratisthan Nepal and the Amateur Radio Digital Communications Foundation. The project is dedicated to inspiring, motivating, and providing educational support to marginalized groups, low income communities and indigenous populations in Nepal. The project's main goal is to help Nepali junior-high students independently design and build Nepal's third 1U CubeSat while demonstrating and promoting a software-based digital repeater system in amateur radio bands for global amateur-radio users," according to the Global Times. 

Photo Courtesy: Antarikchya Pratisthan Nepal/facebook

Officials at Antarikchya Pratisthan described the launch as one of their first major milestones. The initiative reflects both technological ambition and inclusive innovation, empowering a historically marginalized community to make a global contribution to space science.

"And in the end, that is what makes Slippers2Sat truly special: a satellite built by the youth of a marginalised community, now carrying missions designed for that very community. From communication support to imaging, from attitude control training to early studies in earthquake-precursor detection, this mission uplifts, educates, and gives back, completing a full circle of impact," it added.