Diwata-2 satellite
The Philippine Diwata-2 satellite carrying an amateur radio FM transponder and APRS digipeater is expected to launch in October.
The Business Mirror reports:
The 50-kilogram satellite shall soon be sent into orbit by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through its partner, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa).
It should be recalled that the DOST had the Philippines’s first microsatellite—the maiden Diwata-1 that was designed, developed and assembled in Japan by nine pioneering Filipino engineers and scientists along with their “sensei” (instructors) from the Tohoku University (TU) and Hokkaido University (HU).
Diwata-1 was launched into the International Space Station onboard the Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft on March 23, 2016. It was deployed from the ISS into her orbit on April 27 by the Japanese Experimental Module (JEM)—”Kibo” or Hope—around 400 km above Earth’s surface.
Now, two years and four months later, the government is about to unveil the second iteration of Diwata-1—named Diwata-2 targeted for launching onboard Jaxa’s H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Island in Japan.
Ariston Gonzalez, a researcher/lead research and development engineer for PHL-Microsat at DOST-Asti, is quoted in the article as saying:
“All one has to do is tune in [a ham radio] to the frequency of Diwata-2 to send voice messages while the other party stands by to receive the voice message.”
“target use for ham radio [of Diwata-2] is for emergency situations wherein all commercial communications are down.”
“What Diwata-2 does is to serve as a relay or connecting point for two persons communicating with each other,” he pointed out.”
“One can also store messages on Diwata-2 that can be broadcasted repeatedly across and over the Philippines, such as prerecorded emergency messages in times of disasters, calamities and other kinds of emergency.”
The IARU has coordinated these frequencies for Diwata-2:
– 145.900 MHz downlink
– 437.500 MHz uplink
Read the full Business Mirror story at
https://businessmirror.com.ph/diwata-2-microsatellite-nears-completion-handover-to-jaxa/
Diwata-2 information
http://phl-microsat.upd.edu.ph/diwata2
https://www.facebook.com/PHLMicrosat