This list covers satellites built and/or operated by entities in the Philippines – by private firms based in the Philippines or by the Philippine government. The first Philippine satellites were operated by private companies. The first Filipino-owned satellite is Agila-1, a satellite acquired in 1996 by Mabuhay Satellite Corporation from PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, an Indonesian company. The first Philippine satellite launched to space was Agila-2 which was placed to orbit in 1997.
The Philippine Space Agency is the lead government organization of the Philippine space program since 2019 but all active satellites are built and operated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and its child agencies. The DOST was behind Diwata-1 which was launched to space in 2016 and was the first satellite built and designed by Filipinos and Maya-1 was the first nano-satellite owned by the Philippines and was launched in 2018. Additional Maya satellites were developed and launched in cooperation with JAXA under the Birds program (official name: Joint Global Multi Nation Birds) with the Kyushu Institute of Technology.
The Philippines presently does not have orbital launch capability, and has historically relied on other nations' space programs to launch their satellites into orbit.
Designation | Class | Launch | Deployment | Mission Status | Summary | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Site | Vehicle | Date | Site | Vehicle | ||||
Agila-1 | Satellite | March 20, 1987 | ![]() | ![]() | March 20, 1987 | Earth Orbit | N/A | Deorbited in January 1998 | Privately owned (Mabuhay). First Philippine satellite through acquisition while in orbit. Formerly named Palapa B2-P (Indonesia). |
Agila-2 | Satellite | August 19, 1997 | ![]() | ![]() | August 19, 1997 | Earth Orbit | N/A | Active: Sold to Asia Broadcast Satellite (now known as ABS-3) | Privately owned (Mabuhay). First Philippine Satellite launched into space. |
Diwata-1 | Micro | March 23, 2016 | ![]() | ![]() | April 27, 2016 | ISS | ![]() | Decommissioned on April 6, 2020 [1] | First microsatellite of the Philippines. |
Maya-1 | Cubesat | June 29, 2018 | ![]() | ![]() | August 10, 2018 | ISS | ![]() | Completed on November 23, 2020 [2] | First nanosatellite of the Philippines. |
Diwata-2 | Micro | October 29, 2018 | ![]() | ![]() | October 29, 2018 | Earth Orbit | N/A | Active | Replacement of Diwata-1. |
Maya-2 | Cubesat | February 20, 2021 | ![]() | ![]() | February 21, 2021 [3] | ISS | ![]() | Deorbited on July 5, 2022 | Replacement of Maya-1. |
Maya-3 [4] | Cubesat | August 29, 2021 | ![]() | ![]() | October 6, 2021 [5] | ISS | ![]() | Deorbited on July 25, 2022 | Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-4 as the country's first university-built satellites. |
Maya-4 [4] | Cubesat | August 29, 2021 | ![]() | ![]() | October 6, 2021 [5] | ISS | ![]() | Deorbited on July 27, 2022 | Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-3 as the country's first university-built satellites. |
Maya-5 [6] | Cubesat | June 5, 2023 | ![]() | ![]() | July 19, 2023 | ISS | ![]() | Deorbited on December 8, 2023 | Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-6 as the country's second university-built satellites. [7] |
Maya-6 [6] | Cubesat | June 5, 2023 | ![]() | ![]() | July 19, 2023 | ISS | ![]() | Deorbited on December 12, 2023 | Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-5 as the country's second university-built satellites. [7] |
MULA | Satellite | 2025 (planned) | TBA | TBA | 2025 (planned) | TBA | TBA | Planned | |
AMSAT is a name for amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) with headquarters at Washington, D.C. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then operate (command) satellites carrying amateur radio payloads, including the OSCAR series of satellites. Other informally affiliated national organizations exist, such as AMSAT Germany (AMSAT-DL) and AMSAT Japan (JAMSAT).
ABS-3, formerly ABS-5, was initially named Agila 2 after the Philippine eagle, before being acquired by ABS. Launched in 1997, the satellite provided telecommunications services for Mabuhay Satellite Corporation before being sold to ABS in 2009. Built by Space Systems/Loral, the satellite provided coverage in the Asia-Pacific region. Its control station is located at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in the Philippines. The satellite was launched by Long March 3B and positioned at 146°E longitude.
The space program of the Philippines is currently maintained by the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) together with various agencies under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The space program includes space research and development, and is funded through the National SPACE Development Program (NSDP) by the DOST and received an initial budget of ₱1 billion in 2020.
The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) is the national space agency of the Philippines.
Diwata-1 also known as PHL-Microsat-1 was a Philippine microsatellite launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 23, 2016, and was deployed into orbit from the ISS on April 27, 2016. It was the first Philippine microsatellite and the first satellite built and designed by Filipinos. It was followed by Diwata-2, launched in 2018.
The Philippine Earth Data Resource and Observation Center, also known as the PEDRO Center is an organization tasked in operating satellite ground stations.
Diwata-2 or Diwata-2B is a Philippine microsatellite launched on October 29, 2018. It is the first satellite launched under the STAMINA4Space program.
GhanaSat-1 was the first Ghanaian nanosatellite to be launched into space. It was designed and built in two years in conjunction with the Kyushu Institute of Technology Birds-1 program, which has the goal of helping countries build their first satellite.
The Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) was a satellite program carried by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) of the Philippines in cooperation with the Tohoku and Hokkaido Universities of Japan.
Maya-1 was a Filipino nanosatellite. It was developed under the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite program (PHL-Microsat) and was jointly implemented by the University of the Philippines and the Department of Science and Technology as part of the Kyushu Institute of Technology-led multinational second Joint Global Multi-nations Birds Satellite (Birds-2). Maya-1 was the first nanosatellite of the Philippines.
BHUTAN-1 was the first Bhutanese nanosatellite to be launched into space. The satellite was built during Kyushu Institute of Technology's Birds-2 program. The Birds program helps countries fly their first satellite. BHUTAN-1 was launched into orbit aboard the SpaceX CRS-15 mission on 29 June 2018. It was deployed from the Kibō module of the International Space Station (ISS) on 10 August 2018. The satellite had cameras to image the Earth.
The Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement is a space technology program by the Philippine government. It is considered as the successor program to the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) program, a cooperation between the Philippine government and Japanese universities to develop microsatellites. The program is funded under the Department of Science and Technology.
UiTMSAT-1 was a Malaysian nanosatellite, built primarily by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) as part of the multi-nation Birds-2 project. The 1U CubeSat was launched into space on 29 June 2018 and deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on 10 August 2018.
Birds-2 is the second iteration of a multinational program called the Joint Global Multi-Nations Birds Satellite project, or Birds project, to help countries build their first satellite. The Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT) supported the design and fabrication of the satellites. The satellites were launched by the Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket as a part of the SpaceX CRS-15 mission on 29 June 2018. The satellites were released from the Kibō module of the International Space Station (ISS) in August 2018.
SpaceX CRS-23, also known as SpX-23, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, successfully launched on 29 August 2021 and docking the following day. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX using the Cargo Dragon C208. This was the third flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016. It was the second mission for this reusable capsule.
Joel Joseph Sacro Marciano Jr. is a Filipino engineer, academic and the first and current Director General of the Philippine Space Agency, a government agency under the Office of the President in charge of the Philippines' national space program.
Maya-2 was a Filipino nanosatellite. It succeeded Maya-1, the first Filipino nanosatellite, which was deorbited in November 2020.
The Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) is a planned Filipino satellite. Upon completion it will become the largest Filipino-made satellite.
Gay Jane P. Perez is a Filipino physicist and environmental scientist whose research involves satellite observation of environmental conditions, and the applications of that data in agricultural planning. She is a professor in the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and Deputy Director General of the Philippine Space Agency.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)