Emotional moment for Warangal artist as microsculptures travel to space

A special image taken from space, marking a rare and historic milestone in the history of Indian art of micro-sculpture.

Warangal-based micro artist Ajay Kumar Mattewada described it as the proudest and most emotional moment of his life when his miniature sculptures traveled into space aboard Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket.

Present at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, along with his family members, Mr. Mattewada watched the launch with his micro-sculptures of eminent Indian scientists CV Raman, Vikram Sarabhai and APJ Abdul Kalam.

Ajay Kumar with his family members at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on Saturday.

Expressing his joy, he said the achievement was the culmination of four decades of dedication to the art of microsculpture. “Seeing my four decades of dedicated work in microsculpture reach space is the proudest and most emotional moment of my life. This achievement is not just mine, it is an honor for Indian art, Indian science, Telangana and Warangal,” he said.

Each sculpture measures just 800 microns (0.8 mm) in height and can only be seen with a specialized microscope.

Published – 18 Jul 2026 19:20 IST