RazakSAT To Be Sent Off Tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first homegrown, remote-sensing satellite, RazakSAT, will be sent off tomorrow 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 Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili at the Royal Malaysia Air Force base in Subang, a statement from the minister's office here said today.

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.