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NepaliSat-1, also known as Bird NPL,[2] was a Nepalese low orbit research satellite and the first satellite of Nepal.[3] Along with a Sri Lankan satellite, Raavana 1, it was launched as part of Cygnus NG-11 by the United States on 17 April 2019.[4] It reached the International Space Station on 19 April 2019, to be deployed later, and was estimated to revolve the Earth for six months.[5]
| Mission type | Technology demonstration |
|---|---|
| Operator | KIT / NAST |
| COSPAR ID | 1998-067QE |
| SATCAT no. | 44329 |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 17 April 2019, 20:46 UTC |
| Rocket | Antares 230 |
| Launch site | Wallops Pad 0A |
| Contractor | Northrop Grumman |
| Deployed from | International Space Station |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Reentered |
| Decay date | 4 October 2021[1] |
The nanosatellite was developed by two Nepalese scientists Aabhas Maskey and Hariram Shrestha, both of whom were at the time studying at Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology. Aabhas Maskey, a PhD candidate in space engineering was the project manager of the Birds-3 project and he involved himself in this project.[6] The satellite had a mass of 1.3 kg[7] and it was funded by the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology while it was constructed under the BIRDS-3 project of the Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology.[8] The main mission of Birds Program was to support countries who have never sent a satellite to space.[6] The development of the satellite cost nearly twenty million Nepalese rupee.[3] The satellite contained Nepal's flag and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) logo, alongside the developers name.[9][10]
The satellite was launched on 18 April 2019 at 02:31 am (Nepal Standard Time) from Virginia.[11] The satellite was orbiting at an altitude of about 400 kilometres.[3] The satellite took pictures of Nepal to provide geographical information to the country.[9] Suresh Kumar Dhungel said to The Kathmandu Post: "The satellite will remain in the Earth’s orbit for a year during which the satellite will be closely studied" and "Since it is a learning phase, the study of the satellite will help us in developing more advanced satellites in the future."[4]
Reception
Prime minister of Nepal Khadga Prasad Oli congratulated the scientists via Twitter by writing, "Though a humble beginning, with the launching of NepaliSat-1 Nepal has entered the Space-Era. I wish to congratulate all those scientists and institutions that were involved right from the development to its launching thereby enhancing the prestige of our country."[11] Suresh Kumar Dhungel, spokesman for Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), said, "...they invested in the satellite in a bid to open new paths for space engineering in the country."[11]
Section source[12]
NepaliSat-1
- Country: Nepal
- Type: CubeSat
- Type: 1U
- Project Name: Bird-3
- Organisation: University
- Organisation: Kyushu Institute of Technology
- Oneliner: Remote Data Collection based on low powered LoRa modulation for demonstration.
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