RazakSAT, A Testimony Of Local Scientists Talent, Capability

SUBANG, 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 Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.

The new mini class satellite weighing only 190 kg 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 today.

The airplane will make stopovers at Kota Kinabalu 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 satelite 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 observation to be made on the earth's surface more frequently, at four to six times daily during daylight compared to other remote sensing micro-satellites.

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.

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 were 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.

In KUALA LUMPUR, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in a statement said RazakSAT would be launched from Bucholz Army Airfield on the island.

It said the C-130H aircraft was RMAF's No 20 Squadron and that the flight commander was Lt Col Raja Mohar Raja Bahari who was assisted by two other RMAF pilots and flight crew.

Also on board were officers from ATSB, the statement added.