APD | Sri Lanka’s first satellite launched

By APD writer Easwaran

COLOMBO, April 18 (APD) -- Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana 1’ was launched into space on Thursday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s East Shore.

The launch marks Sri Lanka’s entry into the global space age.

The BIRDS-3 satellites from Japan, Nepal and Sri Lanka were taken to the International space station (ISS) and boarded onto the Antares rocket and launched on Thursday.

The satellite was designed and built at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan by Sri Lankan research engineers Tharindu Dayaratne and Dulani Chamika from the Arthur C.Clarke Institute, Moratuwa.

Its camera mission is to take pictures of Sri Lanka and its neighbouring countries. Its Lora Demonstration Mission is to validate the module to be used to data download next satellites. The Attitude Determination and Control Mission of ‘Ravaana 1’ involves the team trying to reduce the angular velocity of the satellite using magnetic torquers.

‘Raavana 1’ weights around 1.05 kg and the lifespan of the satellite is around one and a half years.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)