Phil-Microsat set to launch April this year

Photo courtesy of The Philippine Star

The Philippines has finally “broken ground” in space with a team from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) turning over the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Micro-satellite (Phil-Microsat) in Tsukuba City to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

While the country already has two satellites (Agila 1 and Agila 2) in orbit, these satellites were privately owned and bought abroad. Phil-Microsat, nicknamed Diwata or fairy, is the first of two Filipino-made micro-satellites that will be sent to orbit, according to DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara.

The turnover also means the nine-man Philippine team, composed of UP Diliman graduates pursuing post-graduate studies at Tohoku University and Hokkaido University, will start working on Diwata 2, which should be launched when Diwata-1’s orbit ends next year.

The two Microsats are part of a three-year, P840.82-million program that would also include the construction of a ground receiving station in Subic, Zambales, called the Philippine Earth Data Resources Observation (PEDRO).

PEDRO will receive and store all data sent from Diwata-1 and, once launched, Diwata-2. Diwata-1 is expected to take an average of 3,600 high-resolution images a day thanks to its four cameras.

According to Science Secretary Mario Montejo, Diwata will provide real-time data to aid the government in improving its disaster-response mechanisms.

The satellites will also aid the rest of the country in terms of agriculture and tourism, with the satellite giving data that will help farmers decide what crops to plant where, and the cameras enabling DOST to capture the country’s natural wonders.

With reports from The Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Philippine Star