RAZAKSAT TO BE SENT OFF SATURDAY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first homegrown,
remote-sensing satellite, RazakSAT, will be sent off Saturday to prepare for its launch into orbit at Kwajalein Island, Republic of Marshall Islands on April 21.

The sending-off ceremony of the satellite will be witnessed by Science,
Technology and Innovation Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili at the Royal Malaysia Air
Force base in Subang, a statement from the minister's office here said Friday.

RazakSAT, named after Malaysia's second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak, is a
mini-class satellite weighing at 190kg, and will orbit the Near Equatorial Orbit
(NEqO) at an altitude of 685km.

It is also the first remote-sensing satellite to orbit the NEqO, where the
orbital location will enable observation to be made on the earth's surface
more often -- as compared to other remote-sensing satellites -- that is, five to
six times daily, during daylight.

The satellite, which will be blasted into space using the United States
launcher, Falcon-1, is designed and manufactured by a local company, Astronautic
Technology (M) Sdn Bhd (ATSB).

The RazakSAT is a continuation of the TiungSAT-1 programme which was
successfully launched in 2000.

Compared to TiungSAT-1 which was more experimental in nature, RazakSAT is
considered a functional satellite in monitoring the earth's surface and
environment.

The 2.5 metre MAC on the satellite is expected to provide high resolution
images of Malaysia that can be applied to land management, resource development
and conservation, forestry, fish migration and security.

Together with RazakSAT, two other satellites -- CubeSAT and InnoSAT -- meant
for educational purposes, will also be launched.

CuteSAT was developed by ATSB while InnoSAT was developed by three local
universities, namely Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
and Universiti Malaysia Perlis.
-- BERNAMA