Today I Learned: It's Been a Decade Since We Sent the First Filipino-Built Satellite to Space

On April 27, 2016, Diwata-1, the first Filipino-built satellite, was successfully deployed from the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) of the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched to the ISS a month prior, on March 26, 2016. This marks the Philippines' entry into the space age, which was sustained with the establishment of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) in 2019. PhilSA now leads and drives the country’s national space program.

"The historical significance of Diwata-1's ISS release is that we became a spacefaring nation. The Philippines established a presence in space through a satellite built and operated by Filipinos," shared Gay Jane P. Perez, project scientist of Diwata-1, in a press statement. She is now the Ad Interim Director General of the Philippine Space Agency. Perez adds, "Naramdaman natin, tayong mga Pilipino, na kaya pala nating marating ang space."

The Philippines' space journey was born out of necessity. In the wake of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, the country struggled with the lack of immediate, independent access to satellite imagery to assess affected communities from above and coordinate relief.

While the Philippines could previously request data from other countries, Diwata-1 changed the game by providing control and direct access to much-needed satellite-based information. By building and operating our own hardware, the country gained the ability to directly task satellites to capture specific areas of interest, process raw digital numbers into actionable maps in real-time, and reduce dependency on international commercial providers during national emergencies.

More importantly, by sending engineers to Japan to master satellite development and bringing that knowledge home, the Philippines transitioned from being a mere consumer of space data to a producer of space technology.

Diwata-1 officially started its decommissioning phase on March 20, 2020, which was followed by the decline of its altitude. It entered the Earth's atmosphere on April 6, 2020, with the last signal received at 4:49 a.m. PST. After working in orbit for four years, it had captured more than 17,000 images of the Earth, orbited the Earth about 22,642 times, and passed by the Philippines around 4,800 times.

The success of Diwata-1 wasn't a one-off event. It served as the foundation for Filipino space technology, as succeeding programs trained teams of engineers to build increasingly complex satellites.

Diwata-2, the Philippines' second 50-kg Earth observation microsatellite, launched on October 29, 2018, as a more advanced microsatellite with enhanced imaging capabilities. Maya CubeSats, a line of cost-effective CubeSats (nanosatellites) used to train the next generation of Filipino space engineers, has also been in operation since 2016.

PhilSA has also been at the forefront of providing Filipinos with satellite-derived maps and vital data for modern crises, including the Navotas landfill fire, landslide extent and damage detection for the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Cebu, oil spill extent in Manila Bay, burnt area coverage of grass fires in Isabela, and flood extents of supertyphoons. The space agency has been in collaboration with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and affected local government units (LGUs) in assessing potential impacts on surrounding communities.

A decade after Diwata-1's deployment, the Philippines is preparing for its most ambitious project yet: the Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) satellite. Set for launch in early 2027, MULA will be a high-capability operational platform. It will allow the country to monitor our land, environment, and natural resources with a level of precision and frequency that was unimaginable a decade ago.

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