Sri Lanka to launch its first satellite in April
Posted on February 20th, 2019
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, Feb 20 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka will launch its first ever satellite into space this April marking its entry into the global space age, officials from Sri Lanka’s Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education said here Wednesday.
The satellite, which will be named RAAVANA-1, is a research satellite built by two Sri Lankan students from the University of Peradeniya and the Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies.
The satellite was designed and built at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan and is 1000 cubic centimeters in size and weighs 1.1 kilogram.
Local media reports said the RAAVANA-1 was officially handed over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on February 18, and will be sent to the International Space Station on April 17, through the assistance of Cygnus-1, a spacecraft from the United States.
The satellite is expected to fulfill five missions including the capturing of pictures of Sri Lanka and its surrounding regions.
The RAAVANA-1 is expected to orbit 400 kilometers away from earth. It will have a minimum lifespan of one and half years but is expected to be active for up to five years.
February 20th, 2019 at 2:45 pm
Great work. Mother Lanka will be proud on you two!!
Naming it “Raawana 1” looks like having a deep understanding of our pre-historic time and the future to come.
Way to go!!
February 20th, 2019 at 5:20 pm
I thought the first satellite was launched in 2011 by Rohitha. There is no record of that satellite and it was not Sri Lankan anyway. A waste of money.
Good work by Sri Lankan students. Nice name!
February 20th, 2019 at 10:19 pm
Nothing to crow about. This is akin to proverbial saying “kandak wilila meepatiyek …”. From the way one minister made the announcement on TV about those engaged in research at the Arthur C. Clerk center, I thought the next destination will be the moon. But it turned out to be like getting a hike on somebody’s car and then taking some pictures using a drone.
Anyway, appreciate the efforts of the two Pera students.