MicroDragon satellite designed by Vietnamese engineers was launched into space this morning (Vietnam time) at the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan, said the Vietnam National Space Centre (VNSC) under Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.The satellite launch was delayed one day because of bad weather.
The Epsilon-4 rocket of the Uchinoura Space Centre in Japan, which carried MicroDragon into space. Photo: Chinhphu.vn
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MicroDragon is a product included in the basic satellite training component, under the project "Prevention of natural disasters and climate change using earth observation satellites", or the Vietnam Space Center Project for short. The project was funded with Japanese ODA.
Specifically, the basic satellite training component performs the task of "Training 36 masters of aerospace technology and practicing the experiment for one micro satellite (about 50 kg) at some Japan’s universities".
The main purpose of MicroDragon satellite is providing a tool to pilot manufacturing micro-class satellite. MicroDragon is designed to take photos to monitor the quality of coastal waters to serve the fishery and aquaculture industry in Vietnam.
Previously, VNSC’s engineers successfully made a satellite named PicoDragon (10x10x11.35 cm, 1 kg), which was launched into orbit in 2013. PicoDragon operated stably for about three months and continuously broadcasting promotional messages to ground stations around the world.
