Philippines’ First Microsatellite Diwata-1 Successfully Captures Images During its Initial Testing Phase

The Philippines’ first microsatellite, DIWATA-1, was successfully released into orbit from the Japanese Experiment Module ‘Kibo’ on the International Space Station at 20:44 (JST) on April 27, 2016. The microsatellite was developed by Tohoku University, Hokkaido University, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) of the Republic of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines Diliman under the DOST-funded research program, “Development of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-MICROSAT)”.

DIWATA-1 being released from ISS, taken by Tim Peake, Astronaut. (credit: JAXA/NASA)

When the first communication opportunity over Japan came at around 7:33 (JST) on April 28, we succeeded in the reception of radio signals from the satellite at the Tohoku University ground station (CRESST) and the state of the satellite was confirmed to be in good condition. Since April 29, we have been conducting initial checks on each component and evaluating the performance of the satellite’s onboard cameras and attitude control system.

DIWATA-1 has four onboard cameras for Earth observations, and multiple test images have been successfully taken and downloaded. 

Picture 1a shows a test image of the Earth taken by the fish-eye monochrome wide-field camera (WFC) onboard DIWATA-1 at 11:55 (JST) on May 6, 2016. Picture 1b showing similar cloud patterns, was taken by the Japanese Meteorological Satellite five minutes before the Diwata-1 image was taken.  The geostationary weather satellite, Himawari-8, confirms the cloud seen as part of a prevailing frontal system over the Pacific Ocean near Japan.

Picture 2a shows an image of the Tohoku area of Japan, taken by the medium field-of-view color camera (MFC) onboard DIWATA-1at 10:54 (JST) on May 9, 2016. Picture 2b shows a projection of the image on a geological map of the area. The satellite was moving over the Pacific Ocean and its attitude was manipulated to tilt in the direction of Sendai city. Sendai city is covered by clouds but Lake Tazawa and Oga peninsula are clearly visibleon the left side of the MFC test image. 

Picture 3a shows an image of the province of Isabela in the island of Luzon, the Republic of Philippines, taken by the medium field-of-view color camera (MFC), captured at 9:15 (PHT) on May 17, 2016. The test image captures a portion of the coastal seaboard of Isabela province, which includes parts of the municipalities of Maconacon, Divilacan and Palanan. Picture 3b shows a projection of the image on a geological map of the area. For this picture, the satellite was moving over the Luzon island and looked down at the target area vertically, with the pointing control toward the center of the Earth.

At this time, the satellite operation team is continuing the initial checks of the onboard components of the microsatellite, including the other cameras. The images acquired in this phase and included here are used to verify the functionality and characterize the performance of the onboard cameras and other relevant sub-systems.  After extensive testing and characterization, DIWATA-1 is targeted to enter normal operation phase by August 2016. In this phase, it will be set to capture images on a regular basis to support the science mission objectives, such as assessment of damages associated with disasters, surveyingagriculture, fisheries and forestry, and studying environmental changes in the Republic of the Philippines. 

● DIWATA-1

The development of DIWATA-1 took aproximatelyone year with the Republic of the Philippines financing alldevelopment costs. The satellite is equipped with imaging sensors of four different fields-of-view including a fish-eye lens camera and a telescope with a ground resolution of three meters.

It is expected to provide remote sensing information that help address the needs of the Philippines for assessment of damages associated with disasters, as well as studying agriculture, fishery, forestry and changes in the environment.

The onboard liquid crystal multispectral camera is an improved version of the one aboard the RISING-2 satellite, which was developed by Hokkaido and Tohoku Universities and launched in 2014. It is capable of taking images at 590 spectral bands, which is on par with cameras aboard large satellites, and can thus pave the way for the next generation, low cost yet high precision space applications.

• Launch and orbit of DIWATA-1

DIWATA-1 took advantage of a charged launch opportunity provided by JAXA. Firstly, it was delivered to the ISS by the ‘Cygnus’ spacecraft launched from the United States on March 23, 2016. Secondly, it was released from the ISS ‘Kibou’ module on April 27 into outer space. Currently, it is in orbit with an altitude of approximately 400 km. Its orbital lifetime is expected to be around one and a half years. It will re-enter the atmosphere after that.

● The ground station and Microsatellite Research and Instructional Facility

During the initial operation of DIWATA-1, the up-link of commands (UHF band) and the downlink of telemetry data (S-band) are being conducted at the Tohoku University station (CRESST). For the regular long-term operation, a ground control station with high-speed data reception in X-band is being set up in the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI) of the Republic of the Philippines. In addition, a Microsatellite Research and Instructional Facility (MRIF) is currently being established in the University of the Philippines Diliman as a hub for inter-disciplinary research and development activities in space technology in the Philippines.

Contact:

Project Overview, Equipment Development and Data Use

Professor Yukihiro Takahashi

Hokkaido University Graduate School of Science  

Tel: 011-706-9244　　

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DIWATA-1 Satellite Development and Operation

Professor Kazuya Yoshida

Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering   

Tel: 022-795-6992　　

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PHL-MICROSAT Program and Microsatellite Research and Instructional Facility (MRIF)

Professor Joel S. Marciano Jr., Program Leader

University of the Philippines Diliman / Advanced Science and Technology Institute   

Tel:+63-2-925-2958

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr. Carlos Primo C. David, Executive Director

Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development

Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEERD)          

Tel:+63-2- 837-0071

UK –Philippines Call for Proposals 2016

RCUK-PCIEERD Research Partnerships Call

Objectives and Scope

The Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), are pleased to invite applications to the RCUK-PCIEERD Research Partnerships Call.

This initiative will provide funding for small high-quality collaborative research projects between UK and Philippine researchers which contribute to the economic development and welfare of the Philippines.  We invite proposals which address issues on the thematic area Energy-Food-Water-Environment Nexus.

The objective is to deliver significant 1-2 year research funding for internationally competitive and innovative collaborative projects between researchers from the Philippines and the UK that will allow the pursuit of shared research interests. 

Proposals within the thematic area above are welcomed from across the remits of the UK Research Councils.  Recognising the multidisciplinary nature of the thematic area, the development of interdisciplinary collaborations is particularly welcome.

Proponents should consider how their proposal makes the best use of available expertise in the UK and the Philippines, the added value of collaboration and how the proposal will meet the Official Development Assistance (ODA) requirements of this Newton Fund activity. 

For more information on the funders please refer to annex 1.

Background of the Newton Fund

The UK contribution will be channeled from the Newton Fund. The Newton Fund is an initiative intended to strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK and emerging knowledge economies. It was launched by the Chancellor in April 2014, and will deliver £375 million of funding over the course of five years.

The Fund forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment which is monitored by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). ODA funded activity focuses on outcomes that promote the long-term sustainable growth of countries on the OECD Development Assistance Committee list. Newton Fund countries represent a sub-set of this list. For more information, please visit the RCUK Newton Fund page; http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/international/newton/.

The Newton Fund requires that the funding be awarded in a manner that fits with Official Development Assistance (ODA) guidelines. All applications under this call must therefore be compliant with these guidelines http://www.newtonfund.ac.uk/about/what-is-oda/.

Thematic Area on Energy-Food-Water-Environment Nexus

The ‘nexus’ is a way of thinking about the interdependencies, tensions and trade-offs between essential ecosystem services such as food, water and energy, in the wider context of land use, environmental change, health and wellbeing, and global supply chains. These different systems are inextricably linked, and improvements in one sector can have adverse impacts in another.

The nexus requires a deep understanding of multi-functional landscapes and ways to manage the environment sustainably for multiple ecosystem services. It is underpinned by a number of cross-cutting areas, for example: The key challenge areas include:

• valuing nature and natural capital (including stocks and tipping points);
• sustainable prosperity and the green economy;
• sustainable behaviour across supply chains;
• human health and nutrition;
• farmed animal production including health and nutrition
• resource efficiency, including resource use efficiency
• sustainable intensification;
• forecasting extreme weather; and
• resilient agriculture and food systems.

For example, how can agriculture deliver a better food system: using less land, water and energy; reducing losses and wastes; addressing key nutritional needs; maintaining acceptable levels of safety; and maintaining other ecosystem services and the natural capital on which it and they depend? The nexus requires interconnected thinking across the natural and social sciences, and between researchers, policy, business and civil society. *

Areas of interest include:

• Re-envisaging growth for a sustainable future with a particular social science focus on:
  • Consumption - responding to the issues of climate change in the region particularly how behaviours are shaped and mediated differently by various influences such as values and belief systems and how they operate at different locales and scales.
  • Governance of sustainable resource use -understanding what the issues are in the region around the governance of sustainable resource use such as learning how local, national and international organisations interact and drive societal responses to the nexus issues particularly from a comparative view point across political systems and traditions

• Developing more sustainable, resilient and efficient food and non-food production systems while mitigating impacts on the environment and taking into account the need for multi-functional landscapes:
  • Taking an integrated approach across farming systems and the food supply chain in order to deliver sufficient, affordable, nutritious and safe food. This includes understanding the interactions between genotype, phenotype and the environment in order to enhance crop and livestock production, improve the nutritional profile of food, feed and additives/ingredients, and improving efficiencies in food supply chains through the reduction of food loses and wastes due to for example, a lack of control of crop biology or microbial contamination.
  • Better integration of the biology of crops and farmed animals with their management and the agri-environment, in multidisciplinary studies of farming systems. Development of new tools, technologies and data analytics is required to accelerate the breeding of crops and livestock better adapted to the future world, and to drive precision approaches to agriculture with more informed and timely decision-making; and
  • Alongside food production, there is also a huge opportunity for agriculture as a source of renewable industrial feedstocks for energy, chemicals, non-food products and materials in a new bio-based economy.

• Understanding how the processes of natural variability and manmade change work – as a whole Earth system, from global to local scale, from millions of years past to the present and into the future; developing whole-system knowledge to inform responsible management of the environment for multiple benefits.
• Understanding how environmental processes (physical, chemical and biological processes that interact in land, water and air) control resource** availability and how we can use resources responsibly; developing this knowledge to help use and recycle resources safely and efficiently, to live within the Earth’s limits, and to steward natural resources for future generations.
• Understanding the relationships between ecosystem stocks and service flows, and benefits that are delivered as a result, such that the critical levels of the stocks are understood to allow the identification and so avoidance of the abrupt and damaging change in the delivery of benefits (i.e. tipping points).

* Please note that the research under this theme must focus on the interconnected nature of the nexus, and not any single sector in isolation. For example, projects focussing solely on energy technologies will not be considered.

**(food, water, energy, minerals and other essential services we get from nature such as ecosystem)

Areas of interest for research in the Philippines:

1. Innovations on energy production from water systems and resources (e.g. irrigation, sewage, tidal, marine, etc.)
2. Energy production from food waste materials (e.g. biomass, biogas, biofuel, waste-to-energy, etc.)
3. Technologies for efficient utilization of energy-food-water resources (e.g. desalination, co-generation, etc.)
4. Innovative technologies for extending food shelf-life (e.g. efficient dryers, etc.) 
5. Water purification technologies (e.g.  reverse and forward osmosis, etc.)  

Funding Available

This call funds partnership working between UK and Philippines based researchers, and proposals must contribute to the economic development and welfare of the Philippines.

RCUK has allocated up to £2.7 million and PCIEERD has allocated approximately £43 thousand per project (approx. PhP3 million per project); we expect to fund around 5 to 7 research projects through this joint call.  The size of the grant will vary depending of the needs of each research project and must be fully justified.

RCUK funding will be used to support the UK component of the partnership and PCIEERD funding will support the Philippines component.

RCUK-funded costs of each grant will be issued and managed by the relevant Research Council according to the remit of the research proposal in accordance with their normal research funding guidelines and procedures.

PCIEERD-funded costs of each grant will be issued and managed by PCIEERD in accordance with its DOST Grants-In-Aid (GIA) guidelines.

Please liaise closely with prospective partners to ensure that both RCUK and PCIEERD – DOST supported elements of the proposal abide by all regulations for both funders.

Eligibility

UK eligible applicants

For support under this call, applicants must be eligible to apply for funding from their respective Research Councils and must abide by the RCUK and individual Research Councils terms and conditions

Please refer to the below links to the relevant councils for your eligibility and guidance:

Research Councils UK (RCUK)
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC),MRC Units and Institutes are also eligible to apply to this call
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Philippine Eligible applicants

Any Filipino, public or private, entity with proven competence may apply for Grants-In-Aid (GIA) support of DOST and it grant-giving units, provided that projects are for the benefit of Filipinos. Preference will be given to public and private universities and colleges, Research and Development Institutes (RDIs), R&D Consortia, non-profit laboratories, other public or private non- profit S&T institutions located in the Philippines. Non-profit S&T organizations are those, which: (1) are operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) are not organized primarily for profit; and (3) use its net proceeds to maintain, improve, and/or expand its operations. Non-profit organizations engaged in lobbying activities are not eligible to apply.

Please refer to the DOST GIA Guidelinesfor eligibility and guidelines.

How to apply

Intention to Submit

In order to identify peer reviewers and convene assessment panels in advance, researchers are asked to indicate their intention to submit a proposal to this call. Please note that this should be submitted by (23:00 PHT) 02 August 2016 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please note:  This form is not intended to assess or comment on the eligibility of a proposal or research team and should not affect or delay the creation and completion of your proposal on the JeS system. After sending in your intention to submit, changes can be made to your full application (i.e. additional co-applicants can be added and strands of work can be amended). 

For Philippine Researchers:

Eligible Filipino researchers seeking funding can apply for Grants-in-Aid (GIA) from DOST through the PCIEERD. Filipino researcher applicants are advised to accomplish the DOST Form 2B-3 (LIB) which are all downloadable at the links DOST forms. The PCIEERD-DOST also requires submission of a formal letter of intent from the applicant with a statement that the proposal is for RCUK-Philippines Research Partnership and an endorsement from the authorized head of their organization. All these required information by PCIEERD should be submitted by the Filipino applicant as supplemental document together with their UK applicants via the Research Council JeS System.

The Grants-In-Aid award for the Philippine researcher shall be governed by the DOST GIA Guidelines.

Submitting your Proposal

This RCUK-PCIEERD-DOST call will be managed through RCUK systems and hosted by research council on behalf of all seven research councils and PCIEERD-DOST.

The full deadline is 16:00 BST/GMT (23:00 PHT) 02 August 2016. Any proposal received after this deadline will not be considered for funding.

Researchers will be responsible for developing their own collaborations. Once a research proposal is developed, UK and Philippines applicants must apply jointly for funding to the RCUK Newton – PCIEERD-DOST Research Partnership Call, via the Research Council Je-S online application system (https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk).

Applications must be submitted by the UK Principal Investigator on behalf of the UK-Philippines research partnership. The application must be JOINTLY prepared and submitted in English. Once received, RCUK will share the applications with PCIEERD-DOST.

The following documents must be included in the joint application.

• Joint Case for Support
• Justification of Resources  (including both UK and Philippines justification)
• Pathways to Impact
• Data Management Plan
• Philippines costs proforma, DOST Form 2B-3 (Line Item Budget)
• CVs and publications 
• Letters of support

Please Note: Research Council are hosting this call on behalf of the Research Councils and PCIEERD-DOST through the UK Research Councils’ grant submission system known as ‘Je-S’.  It is a requirement of this call that successful proposals will be withdrawn from the call on JeS after decisions have been made and re-submitted to the lead remit council of the proposal on JeS for awards to be finalised and made.  Research council remit grants will not need to be withdrawn and resubmitted.

Key dates

Grant Start Dates

Due to the tight timescales and funding restrictions of the Newton Fund, UK grants must start by 01 December 2016, and the grant must end by December 2018.

Please note that in order to start the grant the start confirmation must be submitted by 01 December 2016 (shorter than the standard 42 days for Research Council grants). Please refer to RCUK terms and conditions for information on what the starting procedure entails; please ensure that you inform the relevant support staff in your organisation of this requirement to ensure the project starts on time.

Assessment criteria and decision making process

Following submission, peer review will be undertaken by the funding agencies. To be funded, proposals must be internationally competitive and at a standard equivalent to that normally expected to be supported by each funding organisation.

Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Research merit of the proposal         
• Relevance of the proposal to the strategic objectives of the Newton Fund – including potential benefits and impact     
• Strength and appropriateness of proposed partnership and collaboration                         
• Project management structure and resources, including value for for money
• Ethical considerations and governance arrangements

Forms/Guidelines/Resources:

For additional information regarding the RCUK – DOST-PCHRD Research Partnership 2016 please go to the RCUK website at  http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/international/newton/rcuk-dipi/ or on the main Newton Fund webpage at http://www.newtonfund.ac.uk/funding/funding-opportunities/. The following resources can also be downloaded in the website:

1. Call Specification
2. Application Guidelines
3. UK-SEA Case for Support Template
4. UK-SEA Justification of Resources Template
5. DOST Cost Template LIB 2B-3
6. DOST A.O. 005 Series 2013 – Grants-in-Aid (GIA) Guidelines
7. DOST S.O. 242 Series 2013 – GIA Salary Rates
8. DOST M.C. 001 Series 2009 – Honoraria Rates
9. Official Develepment Assistance Guidance

Download All

Contacts

Any enquiries related to this call should be directed to:

RCUK

Amy Mayes

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: +44 (0) 01793 444352

PCIEERD-DOST

Raul C. Sabularse or Albert G. Mariño

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: +632 837 7516

Annex 1

Background of the Funders

RCUK

Research Councils UK are the main UK delivery partner for the Newton Fund and are working strategically with partner countries to develop a series of research activities to address challenges defined by the overarching ambitions of the Fund.

Research Councils UK (RCUK) are responsible for investing public money in research in the UK to advance knowledge and generate new ideas which lead to a productive economy, healthy society and contribute to a sustainable world. Each year the Research Councils invest around £3bn in research covering the full spectrum of academic disciplines from the medical and biological sciences to astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering, social sciences, environmental sciences and the arts and the humanities. RCUK supports over 50,000 researchers including 19,000 doctoral students, around 14,000 research staff, and 2,000 research fellows in UK universities and in their own Research Institutes.

There are seven Research Councils which make up RCUK. For more information about RCUK, please visit our website at http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/areas/

PCIEERD-DOST

The Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) is one of the sectoral planning councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It is mandated to serve as the central agency in the formulation of policies, plans and programs as well as the impelementation of strategies in the industry, energy and emerging technology sectors.   

PCIEERD undertakes an aggressive application of science and technology (S&T) in harnessing the country’s S&T capabilities by providing continuing support programs and directions to research and development (R&D), technology transfer and commercialization, S&T information dissemination and promotion, human resource development and institution building for its deleanated sectors.

For more information about PCIEERD, please visit PCIEERD website at http://pcieerd.dost.gov.ph/.

April 28-29, 2016, Iligan City-– Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) successfully hosted the recently concluded Phil-LiDAR 1 program second Mindanao Cluster Conference with the theme “Flooding to Riches: Translating Flood Water Resources.”

Phil-LiDAR 1 Program or the “Hazard Mapping of the Philippines using LiDAR” is one of the offshoot programs of the Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation (DREAM) program launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 2014. It makes use of the most advanced state of the art technologies such as LIDAR, SAR and other remote sensing and GIS technologies to produce up-to-date, detailed, and high-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) flood hazard maps and water level forecast system for the remaining 2/3 of the Philippine river systems or 257 minor river basins nationwide that are prone to flooding. It covers data acquisition, integration, archiving, distribution, and capacity building of the program. 

Professor Alan E. Milano, Project Leader of Phil-LiDAR 1 in MSU-IIT opened the program and emphasized the importance of the project especially in Mindanao. He said that the data sets which the program generates are extremely useful in disaster risk management in their area. This was seconded by Prof. Maria Sheila K. Ramos, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering in her welcome remarks on behalf of Atty. Edgar Alan Donasco, Dean of College of Engineering. She mentioned that the Phil-LiDAR program should have existed before Typhoon Sendong, one of the strongest typhoon which hit Iligan City. “If Phil-LiDAR program is ongoing by then, disasters during that time would not happen.” Moreover, Dr. Jinky B. Bornales, Vice Chancellor for Research for MSU-IIT also delivered her wishes for the sustainability of the program. 

Professor Alan E. Milano, Project Leader of Phil-LiDar 1 in MSU-IIT delivering his welcome remarks.

Prof. Maria Sheila K. Ramos, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering and Dr. Jinky B. Bornales, Vice Chancellor for Research for MSU-IIT deliver their messages to the participants of the conference

During the conference proper, speakers from different sectorsdelivered their lectures on the conference theme. Ms. Aniata R. Fortich, Officer-In-Charge of PAGASA Mindanao Regional Services Division talked about the current and future programs and projects of DOST-PAGASA, the weather bureau of the country. 

Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, Phil-LiDAR 1 Program leader then talked about how to transform menaces into wealth. He said that data sets gathered from the program can be used for infrastructure planning and design. He added that there are more applications that can be explored and created from the program’s output. 

Ms. Aniata R. Fortich, Officer-In-Charge of PAGASA Mindanao and Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, Phil-LiDAR 1 Program Leader while delivering their lectures during the conference.

Engr. Rodrigo Y. Dicierdo, Supervising Engineer from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) also discussed the use of flood waters to rice land irrigation. On the other hand, Engr. Aldrin S. Albano, Engineer for Planning and Design from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) introduced the water convergence programs of DPWH. An open forum was conducted after the lectures. 

Engr. Rodrigo Y. Dicierdo, Supervising Engineer from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA)  and Engr. Aldrin S. Albano, Engineer for Planning and Design from the Department of Public Works and Highw­­ays (DPWH) eagerly answer questions from the audience.

In closing, project presenters from universities implementing the Phil-LiDAR 1 program in Mindanao gave updates on their projects and shared practices as reference. The universities are as follows: Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU), Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), Central Mindanao University (CMU), Caraga State University (CSU) and University of the Philippines – Mindanao (UP-Min).

The Phil-LiDAR 1 program is being monitored by PCIEERD and is funded by DOST.

Following its momentous and exciting delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) last March 23. 2016, Diwata-1 is now ready to be deployed to space, according to the National Research and Development Institute of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Tsukuba Space Center. At the ISS, Diwata-1 was housed at the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), nicknamed ‘Kibo’ and scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) into space at an altitude of 400 kilometers from the earth’s surface.

Watch the deployment to be broadcast through JAXA’s official channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxachannel. 

Interesting facts

 The deployment of Diwata-1 marks the first time that a 50-kg class satellite will be deployed from the JEM “Kibo’ from the ISS. The JAXA acknowledged this milestone, noting “the deployment of the microsatellite combines the only air lock and robot arm in the ISS used in Kibo operations, which in the future, is expected to be one of the important means to meet the launch needs of microsatellites.”

The main payload of Diwata-1 consists of the following: (a) high precision telescope (HPT) for high resolution imaging, could be used for assessment of the extent of damage during disasters; (b) spaceborne multispectral imager (SMI) with LCTF for monitoring bodies of water and vegetation; and (c) wide field camera (WFC) for observing large-scale weather patterns. Diwata-1 is expected to be in orbit for approximately 20 months and will be imaging the country twice daily.

The Diwata-1 is one of two microsatellites planned for deployment under the program, “Development of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat)”, which is a joint initiative of the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the University of the Philippines Diliman, Tohoku University, and Hokkaido University. The development of Diwata-1 was undertaken by a team of Filipino engineering and science scholars in Tohoku University and Hokkaido University together with Japanese collaborators under the program.

The PHL-Microsat is a three-year program monitored by the DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) that aims to enhance capacity building in space technology development in the Philippines. Apart from the development of Diwata-1 and Diwata-2 microsatellites, the other program components involve the establishment of a microsatellite research and instructional facility in UP Diliman; the construction and operation of a microsatellite ground control station; the calibration and validation of payload instruments; and the development of remote sensing products and data distribution mechanisms for the microsatellite images. (Maria Elena A. Talingdan, DOST-PCIEERD).