PH’s 1st cube satellite launched

Maya-1 Rocket LaunchMaya-1, the Philippines' first Cube Satellite, is to be transported to the International Space Station through a rocket launch today!

Implemented by the PHL-Microsat Program of UP Diliman, in collaboration with DOST-Advanced Science & Technology Institute and the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Maya-1 is set to take images of the earth using onboard cameras, broadcast signals from various satellites, measure atmospheric density, and help operate a ground station network for CubeSat constellation.

Watch out for its broadcast on Friday at 5:41 PM (PHT), live from Canaveral, Florida, at the DOST-ASTI FB page!

Read more about the Maya-1 here: http://birds2.birds-project.com/about/

Posted by Pinoy Science on Thursday, 28 June 2018 THE Philippines’ first cube satellite, Maya-1, was launched into space Friday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA for delivery to the International Space Station (ISS).

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said Friday the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will hand over Maya-1 to ISS for release into orbit by August.

Maya-1 was developed by two Filipinos — Joven Javier and Adrian Salces — who are both PhD students at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Japan.

“(Maya-1) is too small, about 10 cubic centimeters, but it can do a lot,” dela Peña said.

Dela Peña said Maya-1 contains an Automatic Packet Radio Service Digipeater, which can communicate with ham radios. The cube satellite also carries two cameras for research purposes and a low-cost global positioning system (GPS) commercial off-the-shelf chip and a magnetometer to measure the magnetic field in space.

Dela Peña said the main purpose of Maya-1 is to log data corruption incidents due to space radiation.

Maya-1 was launched along with other cube satellites from Malaysia and Bhutan.

“The three cube satellites are under the 2nd Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Project of Kyutech,” he said.

Meanwhile, dela Peña said there might be a second Philippine cube satellite. However, what the DOST is preparing for now is the launch of Diwata-2 within the year.

Diwata-2 is the Philippines’ second microsatellite, which is lighter and more cubic than the Diwata-1. Compared with the Diwata-1, Diwata-2 will be launched at a higher orbit via an H-IIA rocket that launches satellites into a geostationary orbit.