Philippine space program

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PhilSA logo
The Philippine Space Agency is responsible for the Philippines' space program

The space program of the Philippines is currently maintained by the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) together with various agencies under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The space program includes space research and development, and is funded through the National SPACE Development Program (NSDP) by the DOST and received an initial budget of ₱1 billion in 2020.

The Philippines attempted to establish a formal space program in the 1960s, during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos. A joint-program with the United States was proposed for the purpose of monitoring typhoons in Asia. However such plans did not push through. The Philippine Communications Satellite was established in the same decade which provided satellite communications in Asia.

Development continued in the late 80s led by the private sector, with the country's first satellites,

Sichuan province on 20 August 1997.[2]

It would be almost two decades before the Philippines would launch another satellite into space when government scientists from DOST and researchers from the

PHL-microsat program to launch Diwata-1, the first microsatellite designed and constructed by Filipinos and was deployed into orbit on from the International Space Station (ISS) on April 27, 2016.[3] The Philippines in cooperation with foreign space agencies such as NASA of the United States and JAXA of Japan were able to deploy develop and launch two additional small-scale satellites, Diwata-2 and Maya-1, with plans to launch additional satellites by 2022.[4][5]

The Philippine space program was largely decentralized until the establishment of the Philippine Space Agency in 2019.

Organization

DOST Logo
Department of Science and Technology was responsible for a majority of space research conducted.

Prior to the creation of the PhilSA, several government agencies under the DOST ran the country's space program: namely, the

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).[6][7][8] The DOST and the Manila Observatory crafted a 10-year masterplan in 2012 to make the Philippines a "space-capable country" by 2022.[9] New programs and future space missions will be directed by the newly created Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA).[10]

History

The Manila Observatory in 1923

Origins

Main article: Manila Observatory

The

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in 1972.[11]

Marcos era

Efforts to establish a Philippine space program started as early as the 1960s, when the government built an Earth satellite receiving station.

Lyndon Johnson discussed with then-Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in 1966 about the possibility of establishing a joint US–Philippine space program to monitor storms in Asia. If such plans had pushed through it would have been the first time Asians would have gotten involved in space activities.[12]

The

Philippine state owned aerospace and defense technology corporation attached to the Department of National Defense, to establish a "reliable aviation and aerospace industry" in the Philippines, design, manufacture and sell "all forms" of aircraft, as well as to develop indigenous capabilities in the maintenance, repair, and modification of aviation equipment.[16]

On April 23, 1980, the Philippines became one of the initial 11 signatories to the Moon Treaty.[11]

PASI and Mabuhay's satellite ventures

Agila-2, the first launched satellite of the Philippines. The satellite now operates as ABS-3.

In 1974, the Philippines planned to use satellites to improve communications. The leasing of satellites from Intelsat was considered but it was later decided to lease capacity from the Indonesian Palapa system. There were interests for a national communication satellite but initiatives to obtain one did not start until 1994, when the Philippine Agila Satellite Inc. (PASI), a consortium of 17 companies, was established to operate and purchase domestic satellites.[17][18]

The Mabuhay Satellite Corporation (MSC), another consortium, was formed in the same year by PLDT, which was a former member of PASI. PLDT was the largest member of PASI before its departure from the consortium. MSC was composed of numerous domestic telecommunications and broadcasting companies, along with Indonesia-based Pasifik Satelit Nusantara and China-based Everbright Group.[18] [19]

Then, President Fidel V. Ramos expressed his desire for a Philippine satellite to be in orbit in time for the APEC Summit to be held in the country in November 1996.[18]

MSC complied with the acquisition of Indonesian satellite

Palapa B-2P from Pasifik Satelit Nusantara. The satellite was moved to a new orbital slot on August 1, 1996. The satellite was renamed Agila-1 and became the first satellite in orbit to be owned by the country.[20][21][22]

MSC launched the country's second satellite,

Agila-2, with the assistance of China. The communications satellite was launched through the Long March 3B at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on August 19, 1997. The satellite was acquired by Asia Broadcast Satellite in 2011[23]
and was renamed to ABS-3.

PHL-Microsat and Birds-2 programs

A cube satellite
Diwata-1 on display before launch.
Maya-1 inside the ISS prior to deployment.
Main articles:
Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite program and Birds-2

The DOST initiated the

Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) program to send two microsatellites in 2016 and 2017. The effort is part of the country's disaster risk management program. A receiving station will also be built in the country.[24][25] The efforts were part of a bigger project, together with seven other Asian countries aside from Japan and the Philippines, to create a network of about 50 microsatellites.[26]

The first satellite under the PHL-Microsat program

Kibo module
along with two other satellites from Bhutan and Malaysia on August 10, 2018.

Creation of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA)

Main article: Philippine Space Agency

Despite these advancements, the country's space program still faced two primary challenges: insufficient funding and the lack of a centralized space agency.[32] In the absence of a formal space agency, the DOST funded the National Space Development Program to set up the foundations of a future space agency.[11]

Press conference announcing the establishment of the Philippine Space Agency.

President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2018 announced that a precursor to a space agency, the National Space Development Office, will be established. As of March 2018, there are seven pending bills in both the House of Representatives and the Senate seeking to establish the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA).[32] In the meantime, the DOST has agreed with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, "to proceed with negotiations of an intergovernmental framework agreement on space cooperation that will include use of Russian rockets to launch Philippine payloads such as micro-and nano-satellites as well as the establishment of a receiving station for the Global Navigation Satellite System" (GLONASS), Russia's alternative to American Global Positioning System (GPS)[33]

In late January 2019, the Department of Science and Technology has said that the Philippines is already capable of founding its own space agency with a pending bill already passed in the House of Representatives and pending counterpart legislation already pending in the Senate. By this time since 2010, the science department has already spent ₱7.48 billion (or $144 million) for space research and development, aided 5,500 scholars, trained more than 1,000 space science experts, and established 25 facilities in various parts of the Philippines.[34]

The Philippine Space Agency was established when the "Philippine Space Act" (Republic Act 11363) was signed into law by Pres. Duterte on 8 August 2019.[35][36] The first head of Philippine Space Agency, Joel Marciano Jr. was appointed on December 5, 2019, by President Duterte. The agency is currently focused on developing additional micro and nano-satellites and has not discounted developing rocket launch capability in the long term.[34] The satellite program of the DOST will also transition into the PhilSA's authority.[10]

Maya-2, a nanosatellite under the Birds-4 program, was successfully launched on February 21, 2021.[37][38]

List of Philippine satellites

Main article: List of Philippine satellites

Spaceport

The Philippines does not have a spaceport.[39] In January 2022, Senators Manny Pacquiao and Koko Pimentel met with representatives of SpaceX and discussed the possibility of setting up a launch pad in Mindanao due to its proximity to the equator.[40] Mati, Davao Oriental has been proposed by the Ateneo de Davao University as early as 2019 to be a potential site for a spaceport.[41] PhilSa is still examining proposals for a launch site in Mati as of late 2021.[39]

Space education

See also: Science and technology in the Philippines
A model rocket being launched outdoors
A model rocket launch from Minglanilla, Cebu, Philippines

The

space science, as a field of study to the Filipino youth.[42]

The Tala Hybrid Rocket is being prepared for launch at Mati Airport, Davao Oriental, Philippines

On October 5, 2017, high school students from St. Cecilia's College-Cebu, Inc. launched 3-feet solid propellant

hybrid rocket which can propel a can satellite 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) into the atmosphere.[44] TALA, the first high-powered hybrid rocket developed in the Philippines successfully lifted off at 11:57 AM Saturday from Crow Valley Gunnery Range, Capas, Tarlac. It was able to deploy its Can Satellite payload before going into fast descent and eventual deployment of its main parachute for safe landing.[45][46]

The

PHL-Microsat program offers a graduate program called Space Science and Tech Proliferation through Partnerships (Stepup).[47]

Student-researchers and science faculty from St. Cecilia's College - Cebu, Inc. in partnership with

Armstrong Line to simulate 'space like' conditions for future space flights.[48][49]

Contemporary private ventures

In 2019,

algae to propel space launch vehicles. The company also plans to develop its own "reusable" payload launch vehicle named "Haribon SLS-1".[50][51]

Gallery

See also

References

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  2. ^ "NSSDCA - Agila 2". NASA. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "First Philippine microsatellite "DIWATA" set to launch". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. January 18, 2015. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  4. ^ Resurreccion, Lyn (August 12, 2018). "PHL 'won't be left out now' in space program | Lyn Resurreccion". BusinessMirror. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  5. ^ "DOST execs note importance of Space Agency creation". www.pna.gov.ph. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
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  7. ^ Cinco, Maricar (November 7, 2012). "Gov't space agency pushed". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
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  9. ^ Usman, Edd (March 29, 2015). "PH to become 'space-capable' in 10 yrs, according to DOST". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
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  11. ^ a b c Tumampos, Stephanie; Resurreccion, Lyn (October 29, 2018). "PHL flying high–into space". BusinessMirror. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
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  13. ^ a b "Wealth of Marcos recovered". Gadsden Times. Associated Press. March 23, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
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  15. ^ "Space Age plant due in Dutchess". Wappingers Falls: The Evening News. July 26, 1969. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  16. ^ "Presidential Decree No. 286, s. 1973". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. September 5, 1973. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
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  19. ^ "PLDT Forms satellite firm". Manila Standard. November 2, 1994. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
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  25. ^ Usman, Edd; Wakefield, Francis (June 30, 2014). "PH to launch own microsatellite in 2016". Manila Bulletin.
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  27. ^ Morimoto, Miki (March 6, 2015). "Japanese, Filipino researchers to jointly develop satellites to check typhoon damage". Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  28. ^ Usman, Edd (January 15, 2016). "DOST says PHL joining Asian 50-microsatellite alliance of 9 countries". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
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  31. ^ Cabalza, Dexter. "PH successfully sends Diwata-2 microsatellite into space". Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  32. ^ a b de Guzman, Chad (March 23, 2018). "PH takes small steps, as it aims for giant leaps in space technology". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
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  37. ^ Arayata, Ma. Cristina. "PH's Maya-2 launched into space: DOST". www.pna.gov.ph. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  38. ^ "Maya-2, Philippines' 2nd CubeSat, has been launched to space station!". GMA News Online. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  39. ^ a b "This photo shows a launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center". Fact Checkc. Agence France-Presse. December 6, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  40. ^ "Pacquiao wants a space rocket launchpad in PH". Rappler. January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  41. ^ Llemit, Ralph Lawrence (May 15, 2019). "From Mati to space". Sunstar. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
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  43. ^ Plarisan, Almida (October 11, 2018). "SCC Ventures Rocket Science". Lasallian Schools Supervision Services Association Inc.(LASSSAI). Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  44. ^ "DOST-PCIEERD AWARDS 2ND BATCH OF YOUNG INNOVATORS". Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development. August 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  45. ^ "First Ph-developed high-power hybrid rocket, launched". Philippine Space Agency. May 22, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
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  47. ^ Resurreccion, Lyn (August 12, 2018). "PHL 'won't be left out now' in space program". BusinessMirror. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  48. ^ Usman, Edd (May 20, 2018). "Cebu's young science geeks reach for the sky". Business Mirror. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  49. ^ Lacamiento, Grace Melanie (June 20, 2018). "To go beyond limits". The Freeman. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  50. ^ Felongco, Gilbert (August 30, 2019). "Filipino dreams of developing space vehicle for countrymen". Gulf News. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  51. ^ Samson, Oliver (July 14, 2019). "Algae as spacecraft fuel? Possible, youth group says". BusinessMirror. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
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