Andhra Pradesh teen Kandula Jessie joins all-girls Mission ShakthiSAT

India Jul 27, 2026

Kandula Jessie, a 14-year-old from Andhra Pradesh, just made history by getting picked for Mission ShakthiSAT, the world's first all-girls lunar CubeSat mission.

Out of nearly 12,000 applicants from 108 countries, she's one of only 20 Indian students chosen and the sole representative from her state.

Her science talent was spotted by her teacher at Zilla Parishad Girls High School in Dowleswaram.

Kandula Jessie balanced studies, aced interview

Jessie completed about half of the roughly 550 sessions on satellite tech and aced a tough interview with scientists to secure her spot.

Even with financial hurdles, she managed board exam prep and online classes after school.

Thanks to her teacher's support, she got another shot at applying. Nailed it.

Kandula Jessie heads to New Delhi

She heads to New Delhi on August 23 for hands-on training and will work on a student-built lunar CubeSat proposed to launch from Sriharikota this October.

It's a big step toward her dream of joining ISRO someday.