MANILA, Philippines - Diwata-1, Philippines's first microsatellite is finally sent out to space, Wednesday, to start its duty as the "eye in the sky."
With an altitude of 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface, it was deployed at around 7:45 p.m. from "Kibo," the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), " onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The deployment marks the first time JEM has deployed a 50-kilogram class microsatellite.
Great to see DIWATA-1, 1st Filipino microsatellite, launched today from #ISS to observe Earth & climate change. pic.twitter.com/C8zI1L7flu
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) April 27, 2016
Congratulations to the entire team on the successful deployment of Philippine's Microsatellite "DIWATA-1" from #ISS #Kibo Module.
— Koichi Wakata (@Astro_Wakata) April 27, 2016
The microsatellite, engineered by nine Filipino engineers from UP and the Department of Science and Technology’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute, is set to begin her 20-month-long journey to observe weather patterns, agricultural productivity, as well as disaster response and mitigation above the earth.
Ariston Gonzales, one of the builders of the satellite confirmed good communication link with Diwata-1 on Thursday.