The NanoDragon satellite, a nano-layer cubesat satellite weighing nearly 4 kilograms, uses micro-satellite beam technology to track and monitor activities at sea.
It is also designed to verify the quality of Japan’s satellite navigation and positioning system, with a new advanced onboard computer.
The satellite affirms Vietnam’s potential in the aerospace sector.
Earlier on January 18, 2019, the Made-in-Vietnam MicroDragon satellite, weighing 50 kilograms, was successfully launched into orbit from the Uchinoura Space Centre in Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture.
This was a historic moment for Vietnamese engineers in particular and the Vietnamese people as a whole.
“My heart was thumping as I waited for the satellite to pass over the first ground station,” said Ngo Thanh Cong, an engineer with the Vietnam National Space Centre. “It was a moment of sheer happiness when I received the first images.”
According to Le Xuan Huy, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Space Centre, the Vietnamese engineers were sent to Japan under an aerospace training programme. They were successful at developing MicroDragon, which was able to capture and send the first images to the ground.
Two years later, the Vietnam National Space Centre’s efforts have again borne fruit, with the NanoDragon satellite now ready for launch.
Together with nine Japanese satellites, it will be launched into orbit on an Epsilon-5 rocket.
The NanoDragon satellite is the result of a project to design, manufacture, launch, and test the operation of a nano-sized microsatellite under the national space science and technology programme in the 2016-2020 period.
Researching, designing, integrating, and testing the satellite’s functions were all carried out in Vietnam by researchers from the Vietnam National Space Centre./.
