![[WATCH] Pinoy-made Diwata-2B Flies into Orbit along with the KhalifaSat](https://dubaiofw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/diwata-banner.png)
Just as the UAE had a big reason to celebrate last Oct 29 when the first Emirati-made satellite, the KhalifaSat, was launched into space from Japan, the Philippines also had its own share of breakthrough with the successful launch of its second microsatellite, Diwata-2B, through Japan’s H-IIA rocket.
The H-IIA rocket, which has a capacity of up to 15,000 kg low-earth-orbit-payload, has launched a number of satellites which include Japan’s Gosat-2, the Philippines’ Diwata-2B, and the UAE’s KhalifaSat from the Tanegashima Space Centre last October 29, at 8:08 am UAE time (12:08 pm PST).
HIGHER ED NEWS: “The satellite was developed by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST), in cooperation with Tohoku University and Hokkaido University in Japan.”
#D2nMe Read more: https://t.co/X6Jo0XGzlW— Official CHED (@PhCHED) October 30, 2018
[VIDEO] Philippine Microsatellite Launched into Space
Other than the Gosat-2, Diwata-2B, and the KhalifaSat, three other “cubesats” from several Japanese universities were also launched along with the H-IIA’s flight.
The Diwata-2B was brought into orbit somewhere above the north-Atlantic region minutes after the KhalifaSat was released into space somewhere over Western Australia.
Through the Philippine Microsat (PHL Microsat) Programme, the country’s second microsatellite, Diwata-2B was developed in the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus.
The Diwata-2B will serve as an earth-imaging satellite that will monitor environmental changes and damages caused by calamities and natural disasters in the world.
The programme initiative was named after a Filipino mythical entity known as “Diwata,” which is widely recognized in the west as fairies.
Through the PHL Microsat Programme, which was allotted a 900-million pesos budget, the Philippines aims to create, launch, and effectively utilise microsatellite technology for multi-spectral, high-precision earth observation.
Headed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the University of the Philippines-Diliman, in partnership with Japan’s Hokkaido University and Tohoku University, the programme is targeting to launch three microsatellites within three years into the programme.
The first microsatellite, Diwata-1 was launched into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS) back in March 2016.
Watch the launch of Japan’s H-IIA rocket which carries the Diwata-2B micro-satellite and the KhalifaSat here: