Tanya and her mother at the Rocket Garden, Kennedy Space Center
Tany Space Chennai · 2026

NASA
to the App Store

A Class 7 Student · A Space Debris Question · AI

"The idea and product vision came from Tanya. AI and her parents helped turn it into a working app."

Vidya Mandir @ Estancia

The First Spark

NASA changed the way I looked at space

This summer, I visited NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was an amazing experience because I got to see real rockets, spacecraft, rocket engines and other parts of space technology up close.

NASA made space feel real enough to imagine building something of my own.

Tanya at the Creating a Rocket interactive exhibit, Kennedy Space Center
Creating a Rocket
Tanya beside the real Saturn V engines
Saturn V Engines
Tanya in front of the NASA meatball logo globe sculpture
Kennedy Space Center
Tanya standing beneath the full Saturn V rocket, Apollo mission patches overhead
Tanya in front of an Apollo command module
Apollo Command Module

Standing under the Saturn V — the rocket that sent Apollo to the Moon — was the moment the scale of it all became real. Not a photo in a textbook. A machine she could walk beneath.

Then Came COPUOS

A school MUN gave the idea a direction

That is when I started thinking about space in a different way.

A few months later, I took part in a Model United Nations programme, where I was placed in the COPUOS simulation — the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. There, I learned about satellites, orbital debris, and some of the challenges created by the growing number of objects around Earth.

COPUOS

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

The MUN was the bridge between fascination and a question: what is actually orbiting above us?

Tanya at the school Model United Nations conference
Vidya Mandir @ Estancia — Model United Nations
Tanya at the school gate, heading in with her MUN banner
Heading in, MUN day
Tanya and her father at the school MUN conference
With Dad, at the conference

The Question

What if I could see space debris around Earth?

My first idea was actually quite simple. What if there was an app that could show space debris around Earth in real time?

Tany Space app home screen, showing the live 3D Earth with real tracked satellites and debris

Tany Space

I wanted it to be more than an app where students simply read facts about space. I wanted students to explore, build and experiment.

From Explorer to Creator

Build your own mission

Build a rocket. Name a satellite. Choose a mission. Then explore your creation alongside real orbital objects.

Choosing a rocket type in the Tany Space app

01

Build

Choose a rocket and customize it.

A finished custom rocket, named TANY, in the Tany Space app

02

Launch

Name your satellite and create a mission.

Ask Tany, the app's AI space companion, answering a question about a satellite

03

Ask Tany

Explore questions about space.

One of the ideas was that when a satellite passes close to the student's own location, the student gets a notification — making something as abstract as an orbit feel like something happening right above them.

How It Was Actually Built

She had the idea.
AI helped build it.
Her parents helped make it real.

A transparent look at how Tanya's product vision became a working app — with AI and family support.

Tanya

The Vision

  • Original idea
  • Product vision
  • Feature decisions
  • Testing and iteration

AI

The Build

  • Product organisation
  • Much of the application code
  • 3D Earth experience
  • CelesTrak integration
  • Notifications
  • AI space companion integration

Parents

The Support

  • Backend and Supabase
  • Technical oversight
  • Apple submission
  • App Store fixes

The original idea and product vision came from me, while AI and my parents helped turn it into a real app.

Claude Code generated much of the application code. Tanya's parents built the backend using Supabase and handled the Apple submission and App Store fixes. The AI space companion uses xAI technology integrated through Claude Code.

Idea → Product Vision → AI-Assisted Build → Real App

A Thank You To

CelesTrak

Keeping the sky open for everyone to explore.

None of this would have been possible without the work of CelesTrak. Its orbital data resources help developers, educators, researchers and space enthusiasts explore the objects moving around Earth.

CelesTrak's roots go back to 1985. Today, its data resources continue a long tradition of making orbital information accessible, while asking users to follow its usage policy and avoid unnecessary load on the service.

Dr. T. S. Kelso

With Gratitude To

Dr. T. S. Kelso

and the CelesTrak community for maintaining a resource that helps people understand our orbital environment.

Real orbital data. A student-friendly space playground. For Tany Space, CelesTrak helped bring real orbital information into an experience designed for students.

A Big Thumbs Up From Dr. Kelso

We shared this story — and the app it led to — with Dr. Kelso himself, over Bluesky. He responded with a thumbs up. It's hard to put into words what that felt like: the person behind CelesTrak, the data this whole app runs on, now knows Tany Space exists.

"Thank you for keeping the sky open."

CelesTrak usage remains subject to its published policy — see celestrak.org.

The Journey

NASA → COPUOS → Space Debris → An Idea → AI → Tany Space

What started as a simple thought about creating an app to see space debris eventually became something much bigger. It became a space playground where students can explore satellites and orbital objects while also creating their own imaginary missions.

I wanted to make space science something students do not just read about, but something they can see, build, launch and experience.

A student with a question.

AI with the ability to build.

Parents with the experience to guide.

A real product at the end.

And perhaps the most exciting part is that the idea did not have to remain an idea. Something imagined became a real app that other students can use.

Tanya in front of the Apollo command module

Explore Tany Space

See it.
Build it.
Launch it.

Keep looking up.

A student-conceived space exploration experience.

Get Tany Space on the App Store
Tanya · Vidya Mandir @ Estancia · Chennai · Published by Tandelion Technologies (OPC) Private Limited · Tany Space · 2026