NepaliSat-1 23/04/2019 – Posted in: Daily News

NepaliSAT-1 (BIRDS-3)

For: Preliminary

News Flash

Nepal’s first satellite is developed by the two Nepalese scientists Abhas Maskey and Hariram Shrestha.

Two scientists developed the nano satellite under the BIRDS project of their institute (Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology). With the launching of NepaliSat-1 Nepal has entered the Space-Era.

According to Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), satellite was launched into space from the Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in the United States. NepaliSat-1 is being carried by a cargo spacecraft lifted into space by Antares rocket.

 

Project BIRD

The BIRDS project has been designed in association with the United Nations and aims at helping countries launch their first satellite.

 

Type

 Cube Satellite

Organization

 University, Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology

One liner

 Remote Data Collection based on low powered LoRa modulation for demonstration.

 

With the help of NepaliSat-1, ground station located at NAST office, will gather detailed geographical information of the Himalayan nation. According to NAST, the satellite will be stationed at the International Space Station for a month and then it will be sent to earth’s orbit.

  • NepaliSat-1 is a low orbit satellite which will be in the 400-km distance from the Earth’s surface.
  • The satellite will take photographs on a regular basis to gather geographical information of the country.
  • The satellite weight 1.3 kilogram is a small satellite with limited capability.
  • The satellite is equipped with a 5MP camera to capture Nepal’s topography.
  • The satellite is also equipped with magnetometer to collect data related to the Earth’s magnetic field.
  • The satellite also bears the Nepal flag and logo of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), alongside the developers’ name.

The satellite was launched along with a Sri Lankan satellite Raavana 1 it was launched as part of Cygnus NG-11.

After this, another group of engineering graduates are currently working on another satellite named “Nepal PQ-1”, prepared to launch in 2020.

 

Source: Business Standard