satellite RazakSAT

A Malaysian paper published on 22 may 209 carried the news of the Malaysian first remote sensing satellite. It was to be launched on 12 Apr 2009 from US island of Kwajalein.

RazakSAT launch on April 21

Mar 12, 2009 ... After years of postponement, RazakSAT, Malaysia's first remote sensing satellite, will be blasted into space from Kwajalein Island on April 21.

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/12/nation/...sec...

It was reported that the Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Fadilah Yusof said the satellite was to be flown from Subang to Bucholz Army Airfield, Kwajalein on March 21 by Malaysian Hercules.

RazakSAT, which is also Malaysia's second low orbit microsatellite, was developed through a colloboration of ATSB with Satrec Initiative Ltd of South Korea.

The 180kg satellite is expected to be carried into space on a Falcon One rocket owned by United States' Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) from Kwajalein.

The 2.5mm Medium Sized Aperture Camera on the satellite is expected to provide high resolution images of Malaysia that can be applied to land management, resource development and conservation, forestry, fish migration and security.

According to Fadilah, RazakSAT, also the nation's first observatory satellite, would be launched to an orbital location specifically for Malaysia, to be known as the Equatorial Orbit.

He said the orbital location would enable observation to be made on the earth surface more often, as compared to other observatory satelites, that is, five to six times daily, during daylight.

"Compared to TiongSAT1, which was launched in 2006 and which was more experimental in nature, RazakSAT is considered a functional satellite in monitoring the earth's surface and environment," said Fadilah, adding that the satellite was built at a total cost of RM150 million.

Fadilah said for the first time, together with RazakSAT, two other satellites meant for educational purposes CubeSAT and InnoSAT would also be launched.

Meanwhile, Fadilah said Malaysia had the necessary expertise and capacity to develop its own satellite for sale to other countries.

"There is already a demand from countries like Iran to purchase satellites developed by ATSb," he added. - Bernama

Extracted from the Star.

On 25 Oct 2011, the audit report mentioned that the satellite is 37 km off target. The RM142mil RazakSAT failed to operate since it was launched.

In a test, it was supposed to target raja muda batang berjuntai forest reserve but the picture delivered deviated by 37 km. Correction was to be done by ATSB the original developer, but the subsequent check showed the same problem.

Last year, the minister for science and technology said that allocation under 10 malaysian plan for the next phase called RazakSAT2.