For many parents, moving their child from a private school to a government school is a decision filled with worry. Will their child lose opportunities? Will their dreams become smaller? For Andhra Pradesh carpenter Kandula Rambabu and his wife Aruna, it was a choice driven purely by necessity. Financial constraints meant they could no longer afford private school fees, and their daughter, Kandula Jessie, had to continue her education at the Zilla Parishad Girls High School in Dowleswaram. What they perhaps didn’t know then was that a child’s future is shaped far more by encouragement than by the name on a school building.Today, 14-year-old Jessie has achieved something extraordinary. She has been selected among just 20 students from India for Mission ShakthiSAT, the world’s first global all-girls lunar CubeSat mission.
14 Jul 2026 | 16:51
Do you think social media has changed the parent-teen relationship?
Nearly 12,000 girls from 108 countries registered for the programme, making her selection an achievement that has brought pride not just to her family but to her entire state.
A teacher noticed what her parents had always believed in
Jessie’s journey did not begin with expensive coaching classes or elite laboratories. It began in her school’s Atal Tinkering Lab, where her physical science teacher and lab in-charge, Manimala, noticed her curiosity for science and innovation. Believing Jessie had the potential to do something remarkable, she encouraged her to register for Mission ShakthiSAT.Jessie was so inspired by the opportunity that she convinced eight of her classmates to register too. When they later realised the online coursework had already begun, Manimala personally contacted the programme coordinators and secured another chance for the students.
Learning after school, dreaming beyond textbooks
Preparing for Class 10 board examinations would be enough to overwhelm most teenagers.Jessie had something more on her plate.Every day after school, she attended online sessions covering subjects far beyond the standard school curriculum. The programme includes nearly 550 lessons across 21 modules, introducing students to satellite systems, propulsion, thermodynamics, mission operations and other advanced space technologies.Instead of being discouraged by concepts she had never encountered before, Jessie simply kept showing up. “I found many concepts difficult initially because they were far more advanced than what we study in school, but I continued attending the classes every day,” she told The Times of India.
Getting selected wasn’t just about passing online lessons.
Candidates also had to face a one-hour interview with scientists and programme coordinators and record a one-minute video explaining Mission ShakthiSAT and the importance of STEM education.The challenge?The interview was conducted entirely in English with international experts. For a girl studying in a government school, this felt intimidating.Rather than letting fear stop her, Jessie worked with her teachers and practised using educational videos to improve her communication skills. “I was nervous speaking to international scientists. I never expected a government school student like me would get selected,” she later said.
Photo: Kandula Jessie
Parents who couldn’t buy opportunities, but never stopped believing
Jessie’s parents could not give her an expensive education. What they gave her was something equally valuable: permission to dream. Her father continues to work as a carpenter, while her mother has watched her daughter steadily chase opportunities that once seemed unimaginable. Speaking about Jessie’s selection, her mother Aruna described watching her confidently interact with international scientists as one of the proudest moments of their lives.It’s a reminder that while financial resources matter, emotional support often determines whether children continue believing in themselves when life becomes difficult.
The next stop: Building a satellite
Beginning August 23, Jessie will travel to New Delhi for intensive training. There, she will work alongside scientists on satellite design, payload development and mission operations for the student-built lunar CubeSat, which is proposed to launch from Sriharikota later this year as part of Mission ShakthiSAT.Jessie’s story isn’t simply about space science. It’s about what happens when parents refuse to let financial hardship define their child’s future, teachers recognise potential beyond report cards, and a teenager chooses persistence over self-doubt. Changing schools because of money could easily have felt like the end of a dream. Instead, it became the beginning of one that may one day take her all the way to ISRO- and, symbolically, to the Moon.
