Vietnam is set to launch two radar satellites in 2019 and 2022, marking the country’s major advancement in space technology.
The two satellites will be Vietnam’s first to employ radar technology which allows for higher-resolution image capturing in all weather conditions.
LOTUSat-1 and LOTUSat-2 are part of a US$600 million project to establish the Vietnam National Satellite Center (VNSC) in Cau Giay District, Hanoi, which will be the country’s biggest science and technology project.
Each of the satellites is designed to weigh 600 kilograms and to have an orbital lifetime of five years. They can capture images of objects on the earth surface measuring as small as one meter in size.
The satellites will be tasked with monitoring and giving out early warnings on weather hazards, as well as keeping track of fish migration at sea to aid Vietnam’s fishing industry, according to VNSC director Dr. Pham Anh Tuan.
Once launched, the satellites are expected to help save as much as $150 million a year in disaster-caused damage on the country’s crops, according to experts at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
One giant step for Vietnam’s space technology
According to Dr. Tuan, LOTUSat-1 will be built primarily by Japanese engineers with the participation of their Vietnamese colleagues.
The satellite is currently up for contract bidding and is expected to be launched in March 2019.
Vietnam has already sent a team of 36 select space engineers to Japan for training and taking part in the building of LOTUSat-1.
The engineers will launch two small demo satellites named Micro Dragon and Nano Dragon next year as part of their training in preparation for the major projects to build Vietnam’s first radar satellites.
Up to 100 Vietnamese engineers will have been trained by the time LOTUSat-2 is built, Dr. Tuan said, adding that the second satellite will be made in Vietnam by local engineers under the supervision of foreign experts.
According to the VNSC director, Vietnam currently places in the middle among Southeast Asian nations in terms of space technology, and has never been able to build its own satellites before.
The ability of its engineers to build satellites will mark a significant step in its progress in the field, Tuan remarked.
Apart from building the two satellites, Vietnam will also be focusing on training quality personnel capable of running its satellite network in the near future.
The country successfully launched geostationary satellites Vinasat-1 and Vinasat-2 in 2008 and 2012, as well as sun-synchronous satellite VNREDSat-1 in 2013.
Kindling youths’ interest in space
The VNSC project also places particular emphasis on kindling the love for space among youths in the country with the scheduled establishment of an aerospace museum and two observatories.
The aerospace museum is part of the VNSC complex inside Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in Thach That District, Hanoi.
Its construction has already finished and the museum will be open to the public as early as 2018.
Meanwhile, two VND120 billion ($5.27 million) observatories are being constructed in Hanoi and Nha Trang, a popular beach city in the central region.
The observatory in Hanoi will be opened at the same time as the aerospace museum, while the one in Nha Trang will go into operation next March.
(TuoiTreNews)
Congratulations.
BalasHapusHow about the micro satellites from JMRL in Chiba University?
DIKLAIM PERTAMA DIDUNIA.
BalasHapusINDONESIA MEMBIKIN SATELIT RADAR MIKRO.
Indonesia rupanya punya banyak orang pintar dan berprestasi. Salah satunya adalah Josaphat Tetuko Sri Sumantyo. Josaphat adalah ilmuwan asal Indonesia yang menjadi orang pertama yang membuat satelit radar mikro pertama di dunia.
Josaphat merupakan profesor radar di Chiba University, Jepang. Dia telah merampungkan pembuatan satelit mikro serta sensor circurlarly polarized synthetic aperture radar (CP-SAR). Satelit dan sensor ini dirancang dan dibangun di Josaphat Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (JMRSL), Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University. Rencananya, satelit ini akan diluncurkan di Indonesia pada 2019 mendatang.
Meski disebut mikro, tapi satelit ini memiliki berat 150 kilogram dan menjadi satelit berbobot ringan pertama di dunia yang membawa sensor radar. Selama ini, satelit radar memiliki berat lebih dari 1 ton. "Bertahun-tahun saya kembangkan teknologi mutakhir lain untuk memperkecil dan mengurangi beratnya hingga sepersepuluh lebih," ujar Josaphat kepada Tempo melalui pesan singkat, Jumat, 16 Desember 2016.
Keunggalan satelit ini ada pada teknologi polarisasi melingkar yang bisa mengurangi getaran wahana pembawa radar dan pengaruh rotasi Faraday di ionosfer. Dengan cara ini, citra yang didapat lebih akurat ketimbang radar konvensional. Teknologi itu adalah temuan Josaphat sendiri dan telah dipatenkan.
Josaphat menjelaskan, CP-SAR merupakan sensor radar yang bekerja di gelombang L band atau 1,270 gigahertz (GHz). Gelombangnya memiliki panjang 23 sentimeter. Itulah yang membuat radar ini dapat menembus awan, kabut, asap, hutan, dan bisa penetrasi ke dalam tanah.
Selain L band, sensor juga dapat menangkap frekuensi C band (5,3 GHz), X band (9,4 GHz), dan Ku band (13,2 GHz), sesuai dengan target yang akan diamati. Semakin tinggi frekuensi, makin detail citra yang akan diperoleh.
"Dapat menembakkan gelombang mikro (microwave) dan menerimanya kembali untuk diolah menjadi citra radar. Bisa dipakai pada siang dan malam hari," tutur pria kelahiran Bandung, 25 Juni 1970, ini. Ketimbang citra kamera biasa, kata dia, radar ini menghasilkan informasi soal intensitas, fase, dan polarisasi suatu objek, sehingga dapat diperoleh informasi lebih detail.
Karena itu, menurut Josaphat, satelit dan sensor ini tepat sekali untuk pengamanan lalu lintas laut (sea surveillance), penjagaan lintas batas negara, penjagaan nelayan ilegal, pemantauan kebakaran hutan, gunung meletus, pemeliharaan infrastruktur. "Sampai prediksi pergeseran tanah akibat gempa dan tanah longsor," kata Josaphat, yang pernah menjadi peneliti Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi (BPPT) selama 10 tahun.
Josaphat mengembangkan sensor satelit mikro CP-SAR ini sejak 2007 untuk berbagai keperluan pengamatan permukaan bumi, bulan, hingga planet Mars dan Venus. Selain di satelit mikro, ujarnya, sensor ini juga dapat dipasang di pesawat nirawak, pesawat, dan satelit besar. Serta kendaraan biasa untuk keperluan pengamatan permukaan tanah dan perubahannya.
Dia berencana memberi nama satelit ini sebutan "Tanah Air". "Harapannya satelit ini dapat bermanfaat bagi Indonesia, khususnya dalam mengamati sumber daya alam dan melindungi warganya dari bencana alam," ujarnya. "Satelit ini pun mewujudkan mimpi saya waktu umur lima tahun. Saat itu, saya berjanji kepada Ayah yang juga anggota Angkatan Udara dan pelatih di Komando Pasukan Khas, untuk membuatkan satelit pengamatan."
SEMOGA SUKSES SAAT DILUNCURKAN DI INDONESIA TAHUN 2019 NANTI.