BHAWANIPATNA: Exactly a week ago, on July 18, when Vikram-1 launched into the orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Pritisha Banerjee watched her dream take off.
As Skyroot Aerospace made history by becoming India’s first private company to send an orbital rocket, the 26-year-old from Odisha’s Titilagarh town played her role as an avionics software reliability engineer in the space-tech startup’s milestone.
For the record, avionics software engineers validate the Mission Computer Software, often described as the brain of the rocket.
An alumna of the Government College of Engineering, Kalahandi (GCEK), Bhawanipatna, Pritisha graduated in 2021 with a BTech, scoring a CGPA of 8.87. Before joining Skyroot, she had never even set foot near a rocket.
Question that changed her
It was a question that changed everything in her life. Pritisha’s path to Skyroot began, unexpectedly, during an internship in her final year of engineering. “During my 8th semester of engineering, I went to Pune for an internship at Jabhekar Automation, a company with around 15–20 employees,” she recalls.
One day, the CEO called everyone into a meeting and asked: “Where do you see yourself in five years? What is your dream?”
“I answered that my dream is to build a company that would work on rockets and develop technology to collect space debris. He smiled and casually told me: Write down 60 skills you think you’ll need to achieve that dream,” she says.
That piece of advice reshaped her career. She spent nearly two hours writing down around 70 skills. “While doing that exercise, I realised that Embedded Systems would be one of the most important skills I needed to build. That day gave me clarity about my career path,” she recounts.
Building the foundation
After her internship, Banerjee enrolled at CTTC, Bhubaneswar, where she completed a Master Certification Course in Process and Automation Control. The course gave her a strong technical foundation and helped understand the technologies required to achieve a goal.
She then joined DRDO, Dehradun, as an embedded software engineer, working on mission-critical systems for nearly two years - an experience that would prove directly relevant to her next move.
Saw a rocket for the first time
Armed with that background, Pritisha joined Skyroot Aerospace as an avionics software reliability engineer. The moment she walked in still stays with her.
“Before joining Skyroot, I had never seen a real rocket. On my very first day, I entered the office and saw a rocket placed horizontally. It was the first time in my life that I stood beside a real rocket, and I still remember getting goosebumps.”
At Skyroot, she works on the Mission Computer Executive Software which ensures reliable software operation throughout a mission.
The environment itself has been formative. “Working alongside experienced engineers and interacting with retired ISRO scientists, and former ISRO chairman Dr S Somanath has given me confidence and motivated me to contribute to India’s growing private space sector,” she said.
On July 18, the day Vikram-1 launched, drawing congratulations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a day she says she will never forget. “It was a grand day for our team. That feeling cannot be explained.”
Priya S, associate professor at GCEK, says Pritisha’s achievement has brought pride to the institution. “She was dedicated and disciplined in her academics,” she says.
“The small-town-student myth has been erased by Pritisha through her determination and perseverance. She stands as an inspiration for students from small towns,” Priya says.
Hailing from a small town in Odisha’s Balangir district where most students and their parents rarely see a career in the space industry, Pritisha has laid an example.
On her journey from Titilagarh to India’s private space sector, Pritisha’s advice to young people, especially those from small towns, is simple: “Dedication, vision and discipline are the ladder to success.”
Her mother teaches at a school for children with disabilities. Her younger sister is pursuing a BTech in Electrical Engineering at BPUT, Rourkela.