ID :
51652
Sat, 03/21/2009 - 16:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/51652
The shortlink copeid
RAZAKSAT, A TESTIMONY OF LOCAL SCIENTISTS TALENT, CAPABILITY
SUBANG (Malaysia), March 21 (Bernama) -- RazakSAT, Malaysia's second
satellite to be launched on April 21 from Kwajalein Island, Republic of Marshall Islands, is another testimony of local scientists' talent and capability in space technology, said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Dr Maximus Ongkili.
The new mini class satellite weighing only 190 kgs would be the first remote
sensing satellite to be orbiting the Near Equatorial Orbit at an altitude of
685 km, he told a press conference before officiating the send-off of RazakSAT
on board a Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) C-130 Hercules airplane to Kwajalein
Island at the Subang Air Base here Saturday.
The airplane will make stopovers at Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of East
Malaysia state of Sabah, and Guam before reaching its final destination in a
journey that will take 20 hours.
RazakSat is equipped with a medium-sized aperture camera (MAC) to capture
high resolution images of the Earth along the near equatorial orbit and its
hoped the images produced by the satellite can be useful especially to the
ministry's Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency, which conducts research in satelitte
applications in agriculture, natural disasters, fish migration, security as
well as land and forest management.
Dr Ongkili said the MAC onboard RazakSAT had a better focusing capability,
up to as close as 2.5 metres as compared to the previous satellite, the
experimental TiungSAT,which has a focusing capability of 70 metres.
Furthermore, he said, the orbital location of the satellite near to the
equator would enable observationS to be made on the earth's surface more
frequently, at four to six times daily during daylight compared to other remote
sensing microsatellites.
Dr Ongkili said the development cost of the satellite was RM150 million
through technology transfer from countries like Japan and South Korea as well
as tireless research and development by the ministry's own company, Astronautic
Technology (M) Sdn Bhd since 2000. (US$1=RM3.65)
It was much more cheaper to build the satellite on our own rather than
buying a completed one, he said, adding that two other small satellites would
also be launched together with RazakSAT using a Falcon-1 rocket from Kwajalein
for educational purposes.
One of them CubeSAT was developed by ATSB, while the other, InnoSAT, was
developed by Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and
Universiti Malaysia Perlis, both of which werre funded by the ministry.
The Prime Minister and Cabinet members are expected to witness the
historical launch from the National Space Centre in Kg Sg Lang, Banting.
-- BERNAMA
satellite to be launched on April 21 from Kwajalein Island, Republic of Marshall Islands, is another testimony of local scientists' talent and capability in space technology, said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Dr Maximus Ongkili.
The new mini class satellite weighing only 190 kgs would be the first remote
sensing satellite to be orbiting the Near Equatorial Orbit at an altitude of
685 km, he told a press conference before officiating the send-off of RazakSAT
on board a Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) C-130 Hercules airplane to Kwajalein
Island at the Subang Air Base here Saturday.
The airplane will make stopovers at Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of East
Malaysia state of Sabah, and Guam before reaching its final destination in a
journey that will take 20 hours.
RazakSat is equipped with a medium-sized aperture camera (MAC) to capture
high resolution images of the Earth along the near equatorial orbit and its
hoped the images produced by the satellite can be useful especially to the
ministry's Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency, which conducts research in satelitte
applications in agriculture, natural disasters, fish migration, security as
well as land and forest management.
Dr Ongkili said the MAC onboard RazakSAT had a better focusing capability,
up to as close as 2.5 metres as compared to the previous satellite, the
experimental TiungSAT,which has a focusing capability of 70 metres.
Furthermore, he said, the orbital location of the satellite near to the
equator would enable observationS to be made on the earth's surface more
frequently, at four to six times daily during daylight compared to other remote
sensing microsatellites.
Dr Ongkili said the development cost of the satellite was RM150 million
through technology transfer from countries like Japan and South Korea as well
as tireless research and development by the ministry's own company, Astronautic
Technology (M) Sdn Bhd since 2000. (US$1=RM3.65)
It was much more cheaper to build the satellite on our own rather than
buying a completed one, he said, adding that two other small satellites would
also be launched together with RazakSAT using a Falcon-1 rocket from Kwajalein
for educational purposes.
One of them CubeSAT was developed by ATSB, while the other, InnoSAT, was
developed by Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and
Universiti Malaysia Perlis, both of which werre funded by the ministry.
The Prime Minister and Cabinet members are expected to witness the
historical launch from the National Space Centre in Kg Sg Lang, Banting.
-- BERNAMA
