Bhubaneswar: The top 30 winners of 19th edition of the Tata Steel Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS) 2025 were felicitated at the grand finale on Saturday.
Krushna Chandra Patra, Odisha’s minister for Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare and Science & Technology, felicitated the winners.
“I congratulate all the winners of the Young Astronomer Talent Search and wish them luck to carry forward the legacy of the great mathematician and astronomer Pathani Samanta. I thank Tata Steel for organising such programme and instilling confidence among the students to explore the space. I believe, these young talents will surely make a mark in the field of space science and make Odisha and India proud,” the minister said.
Around 76,700 students participated in the programme, organised by Tata Steel in collaboration with Pathani Samanta
Planetarium, Bhubaneswar, under Department of Science and Technology.
Aimed at nurturing young talent and inspire school children across the state to explore science, astronomy and space research, this year’s Tata Steel YATS identified 60 finalists from whom 30 were identified.
This year’s edition was themed ‘Stargazer Today, Gagannaut Tomorrow’, reflecting India’s aspirations under the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.
The 30 winners will soon visit an ISRO facility, where they will have the opportunity to interact with top scientists and get a close look at India’s cutting-edge space research programmes.
Two distinguished space experts — Amitav Mohanty, Scientist-SG and Head of EP & FMD, Safety Operations and Systems Entity at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, ISRO Sriharikota, and Antariksh Parichha, co-founder and CEO at Serendipity Space, a company engaged in building satellites that can autonomously produce pharmaceutical products in Space and then return to Earth safely with the products — shared their insights on latest developments in the field and emerging career opportunities in space science.
Ayush Dalai, a Bhubaneswar-based AI developer and YATS alumnus (2015), shared his experiences with the students.