KOCHI: After earning recognition as the youngest Indian to discover asteroids, Shreyas Girish has taken a new step in his space journey. The 14-year-old Class IX student has founded Universal Observatory Aerospace (UOA), an international aerospace organisation dedicated to space exploration, aerospace research, engineering, and scientific innovation.
According to Shreyas, a Vaikom resident, Universal Observatory Aerospace is not a school or student club. It is an organisation made up of experienced professionals, engineers, researchers, astronomers, and skilled space enthusiasts from around the world, working together on real aerospace and scientific projects.
“At present, the organisation has 40 members -- a 10-member core team that deals with designing and planning upcoming missions and projects and a 30-member specialised asteroid search team,” he told TNIE.
While Shreyas is the founder, Kourosh Bamzadeh from Iran is the manager of the organisation. The members are based across India, the United Kingdom, Iran, Afghanistan, the United States, Australia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
“The team supports UOA’s asteroid-search campaigns and related astronomical research,” he said. The International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) has listed Universal Observatory Aerospace as one of its collaborators.
The others are Cisco Community College in Abilene, Texas, National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington DC, Pan-STARRS (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii), Catalina Sky Survey (University of Arizona), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas), Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, Kentucky), Astronomers Without Borders (Calabasas, California), Target Asteroids! (University of Arizona) and Dark Energy Survey (University of Michigan).
Explaining more about his organisation, Shreyas said it focuses on designing and launching model rockets, conducting asteroid search campaigns, developing CubeSat satellites, carrying out near-space missions, aerospace engineering projects, and international scientific collaborations. The team also plans to undertake advanced aerospace missions and develop new technologies in the future.
Shreyas gained fame after he discovered multiple preliminary asteroids at just 13 years of age in 2025. He has also been recorded as the youngest Indian to discover an asteroid.