Some companies begin with a business plan. CSTERC began with a question: Why should access to science and technology be limited to a few?

he story of CSTERC did not begin in a boardroom, a laboratory, or a corporate office.

It began with conversations.

During the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world seemed to slow down and people were confined to their homes, a group of science and technology enthusiasts began spending long hours discussing an idea that had been on their minds for years.

We came from different backgrounds, but we were connected by a common curiosity—and by communities that believed knowledge should be open and accessible.

Many of us had met and interacted through various social and technology forums across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, including science forums and Free Software Foundation Tamil Nadu community. These spaces brought together people who were passionate about science, technology, free knowledge, open-source software, education, and the possibilities that technology could create for society.

Over time, our conversations moved beyond simply discussing technology.

We began asking a much bigger question:

What if we could build something that made technology more accessible to everyone?

The Idea Behind the Idea

At that time, technology was transforming almost every part of our lives.

The internet was becoming essential. Digital learning resources were expanding rapidly. Educational technologies were opening new possibilities. Yet access to many of these resources remained uneven.

For a student in a small town, a young person interested in astronomy, a teacher looking for better educational tools, or a curious individual who simply wanted to experiment with technology, access could still be a challenge.

Technology should be accessible. Knowledge should be accessible. Learning should be accessible.
That became the foundation of our thinking.

The original vision was broader than space science. We wanted to explore ways of making technology, internet access, digital resources, educational resources, and emerging technologies more affordable and accessible to people.

And from that vision, something more specific began to take shape.

Bringing Space Science Closer to People

As science and technology enthusiasts, we naturally found ourselves drawn toward one of humanity’s greatest frontiers: space.

Space science has an extraordinary ability to inspire people.

A telescope can turn a distant point of light into a world. A satellite can transform the way we understand our planet. A rocket can turn a scientific idea into a physical mission. A simple observation of the Moon can trigger a child’s lifelong curiosity about the universe.

But we noticed a gap.

Space technology often appeared distant—not only physically, but also economically and educationally.

For many students and young enthusiasts, astronomy meant looking at pictures in textbooks or watching videos online. Building a telescope, conducting an astronomical observation, experimenting with space technology, or participating in an actual research activity often seemed inaccessible.

We wanted to change that.

The idea was simple:

If people cannot easily reach the world of space science, why not bring space science to them?

This became the beginning of our journey toward building a Science & Technology Education and Research initiative focused on making space science and technology more approachable, practical, and accessible.

The COVID Years: When the World Stopped, We Started Building

Ironically, the period in which this idea took shape was one of the most uncertain periods of our lives.

The COVID-19 pandemic had brought the world to a standstill.

Businesses were struggling. Educational institutions were closed. People were separated from their workplaces, laboratories, classrooms, and communities.

But in one apartment, a different kind of activity was happening.

We were talking.

And talking.

And talking.

There were countless late-night conversations about technology, education, science, entrepreneurship, space, accessibility, and what we could actually build together.

Some discussions lasted for hours.

Some continued until the early hours of the morning.

Ideas were proposed, challenged, redesigned, and sometimes completely abandoned.

We debated what the company should become, whom it should serve, what technologies we should work on, and most importantly, why we should exist in the first place.

There was no perfect business plan.

There was no large investment waiting for us.

There was no certainty that the idea would work.

There was simply a group of people who believed that something needed to be built.

And after many days and nights of these sleepless discussions, the idea finally moved from conversation to commitment.

10 December 2020

On 10 December 2020, we took the first formal step.

Our company was registered in Bangalore, India.

What had started as conversations among science and technology enthusiasts had now become a real organisation.

CSTERC was established as the Science & Technology Education and Research division of Chiguru Colab LLP, with a vision to explore, develop, and make science and technology more accessible.

That registration date was more than a legal milestone for us.

It represented the moment when an idea acquired an identity.

The name, the structure, and the organisation were new.

But the purpose behind them had already been forming for years.

More Than a Company

From the beginning, we never wanted CSTERC to be just another technology company.

We wanted it to become a bridge.

A bridge between curiosity and knowledge.

Between students and technology.

Between ideas and experimentation.

Between science education and real-world research.

And eventually, between people and space.

Our belief was—and continues to be—that meaningful technological progress does not happen only inside large laboratories or institutions.

Sometimes it starts with a student asking a question.

Sometimes it starts with a teacher trying something new.

Sometimes it starts with a group of friends sitting in an apartment late at night, wondering whether they can build something that does not yet exist.

For us, it started that way.

The Beginning of the Journey

Looking back, 10 December 2020 was only the beginning.
We did not know exactly where the journey would take us.

We did not know how many telescopes we would eventually build, how many students we would reach, what research projects we would undertake, or how far our work in space science and technology would eventually extend.

But we knew one thing.

We wanted to make science and technology something people could experience—not merely something they could read about.
That belief became the seed from which CSTERC grew.

Today, whenever we look at the projects, technologies, educational programmes, research initiatives, and ideas that have emerged from CSTERC, it is worth remembering where it all began.

Not with a large laboratory.

Not with a large team.

Not with a large investment.

But with a simple question, a shared belief, and a group of people who were willing to stay awake through countless nights to see whether that belief could become reality.

That was the beginning of CSTERC.
And, in many ways, the journey is still only beginning.