After two delays, Vietnam's NanoDragon satellite will be put on the launch pad for the third time by the end of this week.
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| Vietnam's NanoDragon satellite. |
After two delays, Vietnam's NanoDragon satellite will be put on the launch pad for the third time by the end of this week.
According to the official announcement of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the new launch schedule of NanoDragon will be between 7:48-7:59 on November 7, at Uchinoura launch site (Kyushu Island, Japan).
The NanoDragon, a nano-layer cubesat satellite which weighs 3.8 kilograms, was developed by the Vietnam National Space Centre (VNSC) under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.
The developers expect the satellite will function well monitoring marine vehicles with an automatic identification system and will send data back to the ground.
Vietnam should view aerospace as one of the five spaces it must master to be capable of safeguarding the national interests. Aerospace technologies require big resources, from capital to human resources and time, to ensure sustainable development.
NanoDragon is the result of a project to design, manufacture, launch and test operation of a nano-sized microsatellite under the national space science and technology program in the 2016-2020 period.
The government has recently approved a strategy for the development and application of aerospace science and technology to 2030 with an aim to expand the use of these technologies, master the design and manufacturing technologies of earth observation satellites, and support start-ups in the field.
This will be the third time the satellite will be put on the launch pad. This time, NanoDragon will still be sent to space by Epsilon No. 5 rocket along with eight other satellites.
The plan to launch the NanoDragon satellite was scheduled for October 1 and October 7, 2021, but it was postponed due to technical reasons.
(Source: VNA)
