SINGAPORE’S FIRST LOCALLY-MADE SATELLITE LAUNCHED

SINGAPORE, April 20 (Bernama) -- Singapore’s first indigenous
micro-satellite, X-SAT, lifted off on board India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C16 at 12.42pm (Singapore time) Wednesday.

The X-SAT, developed and built by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), in collaboration with DSO National Laboratories, was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, India.

The satellite was one of the two "piggyback" mission satellites loaded on the PSLV-C16 rocket owned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The PSLV-C16 successfully inserted the X-SAT into its planned orbit around the Earth.

"We are delighted with the successful launch of Singapore’s first
experimental micro-satellite into space. This represents a huge leap for our local research and development endeavours in space technology and building micro-satellites," said NTU president, Dr Su Guaning in a statement here.

Congratulating the X-SAT team of scientists, researchers and students, Su hoped that the successful launch of X-SAT will excite and inspire more youths to take up engineering, and possibly venture into space technology.

The NTU team members involved in the X-SAT project are currently trying to establish communication contact with the satellite from the Mission Control Station at NTU’s Research Techno Plaza.

Once contact with X-SAT is established, an initial health status of the satellite will be ascertained and confirmed.

The experimental micro-satellite carries three payloads, namely an imaging system, an advanced navigation experimental set-up, and a parallel processing unit for image processing experiments.

Weighing 105kg, the X-SAT is designed for the purpose of research associated with earth remote-sensing applications. It has a mission life of three years.