Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko on Thursday congratulated the people behind the successful launch of Philippine-made Maya-3 and Maya-4 CubeSats to the International Space Station calling it a “new high” in the Japan-Philippines cooperation.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s Dragon, the cargo containing the Maya-3 and Maya-4 CubeSats, successfully docked to the International Space Station on Monday, Aug. 30 at 10:30 pm Philippine Standard Time.
“JP-PH cooperation reaches a new high as PH-made CubeSats Maya-3 & Maya-$ developed in partnership w/ Kyutech, successfully arrived at the @Space_Station on Aug. 30. Congratulations!” Koshikawa said in a social media post.
Weighing approximately 1.15 kilograms each with 10-centimeter cubic frames, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said the CubeSats are designed to demonstrate nanosatellite-based remote data collection systems and optical imaging.
Once released from the ISS, the CubeSats will move along an orbit similar to the space station at an altitude of approximately 400 kilometers.
The latest CubeSats were built under the Space Science and Technology Proliferation through University Partnerships (STeP-UP) project of the STAMINA4Space Program funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and jointly implemented by the University of the Philippines Diliman and the DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute.
Collaboration also took place between the UP and the prestigious Kyushu Institute of Technology in Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan on the implementation of the nanosatellite development track.
Prior to the launch, the PhilSA said the CubeSats were thoroughly tested to ensure that they could survive the launch and harsh space conditions. The team performed space environment tests of the two CubeSats and analyzed the results. Reports detailing the results of various tests were then sent to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for evaluation. After satisfying the set acceptance requirements, the CubeSats were turned over to JAXA for their launch to the ISS.
PhilSA Director General Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano, Jr. recalled the time when the Philippines sent its scholars to Kyutech to work on the May-1 and Maya-2 in 2016 and 2018, respectively as part of the plan to build and innovate future CubeSats in local laboratories.
“With Maya-3 and Maya-4 being lifted up to the ISS today, we achieved that proximate objective,” Marciano said on Aug. 29 during the launching of the two latest CubeSats.
“This accomplishment spurs us on toward our larger goal of growing local space capabilities and cascading them to industry and society. I thank and congratulate the scholars, their mentors, and everyone in the team for their hard work, and look forward to more Mayas and breakthroughs to come.”