Compared to the early years of
the Space Race in the mid-20th Century, satellites are now a dime a
dozen – or more, actually – as they circle around the Earth fulfilling some civilian
or military function. Furthermore, from the solar panel-spanning early
satellites the ones in use now have benefitted from the advancement of tech, to
the point that some of the present-day satellites in orbit are incredibly
small. Take for instance the CubeSat, a cube-shaped communication module just
over a kilo in weight and using commercial components. Thanks to the CubeSat
system, the Philippines has been able to develop its own satellites for space
launch, the latest actually happening Sunday.
The Manila Times reports that the second Philippine CubeSat was
taken to space aboard the International Space Station this past February 21.
This was announced by Secretary Fortunato De La Peña of the Department of Science
and Technology. The CubeSat, named Maya-2, was developed by Filipino student
engineers as part of the BIRDS 4 Satellite Project. It, alongside GuaraniSat-1
of Paraguay and Tsuru of Japan, were launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus unmanned
spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
The engineering team that
designed Maya-2 was composed of students Izrael Zenar Bautista, Mark Angelo
Purio and Marloun Sejera, who worked on the design at the Kyushu Institute of
Technology in Japan. The CubeSat has a store-and-forward communication payload
for data gathering from ground sensors. It can be used to analyze weather
patterns and even the spread of infectious disease, as told by Prof. Paul
Jayson Co, the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and
Advancement (STAMINA4Space) project leader. Maya-2 joins earlier
Philippine-made CubeSats Diwata-1 and 2, and its immediate predecessor Maya-1,
aboard the ISS as the fourth Filipino-made satellite.
While a notable scientific
achievement, the reaction to Maya-2 on social media also invited laughs from those
who do not take the project seriously and derision from commenters thinking the
resources were wasted when they could have been channeled to address the pandemic.
DOST Secretary De La Peña was more positive remarking, “The date 21 February 2021
is now forever etched in the history of space science in the Philippines.”
Image courtesy of UNTV Web
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