ILOILO CITY — The Philippines will launch its micro second satellite named Diwata-2 to the International Space Station (ISS) this October 29.
This was announced by Dr. Fortunato de la Peña, Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), when he delivered his keynote address during the first Philippine Mussel Congress held in this city on Thursday.
In an interview, de la Peña said the second micro satellite was developed by Filipino young engineers under the mentorship of experts at the Tohoku University in Japan.
He will be joined by Senator Bam Aquino who chairs the Senate Committee on Science and Technology during the launching of the 50-kilogram satellite in Japan.
“Diwata 2 is carrying improved camera capabilities and it can also be used as a communication facility, particularly in times of emergencies,” he said.
For the duration of the six-year period from 2017 to 2022, de la Peña said there has to be no single moment that there is no Philippine satellite that is making an orbit.
“We are programming already that most likely there is already the third Diwata so that there will always be a Philippine satellite orbiting,” he added.
Meanwhile, de la Peña said they were expecting Diwata-1 to “disintegrate already but it is still orbiting”.
The Diwata-1, which was brought to the ISS in 2016, has cameras that can take images. But Diwata-2 has better cameras. (Perla Lena/PNA)
