List of Philippine satellites explained

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.https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/kibouser/pickout/73032.html?fbclid=IwAR3pZMchQbGF8ObqF2rNkaUqbd69-FtBR4ZbonjhWoS2Hyoq4WDXdEqzCFU

The Philippines presently does not have orbital launch capability, and has historically relied on other nations' space programs to launch their satellites into orbit.

List

Designation! rowspan="2"
ClassLaunchDeploymentMission StatusSummary
DateSiteVehicleDateSiteVehicle
Agila-1SatelliteMarch 20, 1987 Cape Canaveral SLC-17 Delta-3920 PAM-DMarch 20, 1987GEON/ADeorbited in January 1998Privately owned (Mabuhay). First Philippine satellite through acquisition while in orbit. Formerly named Palapa B2-P (Indonesia).
Agila-2SatelliteAugust 19, 1997 Xichang 2 Chang Zheng 3BAugust 19, 1997GEON/ADecommissioned August 2017: Sold to Asia Broadcast Satellite (renamed into ABS-3)Privately owned (Mabuhay). First Philippine Satellite launched into space.
Diwata-1MicroMarch 23, 2016 Cape Canaveral SLC-41 Atlas V 401April 27, 2016ISS Kibo moduleDecommissioned on April 6, 2020[1] First microsatellite of the Philippines.
Maya-1CubesatJune 29, 2018 Cape Canaveral SLC-40 Falcon 9 Full ThrustAugust 10, 2018ISS Kibo moduleCompleted on November 23, 2020[2] First nanosatellite of the Philippines.
Diwata-2MicroOctober 29, 2018 Tanegashima Space Center LC-Y H-IIAOctober 29, 2018LEON/AActiveReplacement of Diwata-1.
Maya-2CubesatFebruary 20, 2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Antares 230+February 21, 2021[3] ISS Cygnus NG-15Deorbited on July 5, 2022Replacement of Maya-1.
Maya-3[4] CubesatAugust 29, 2021 Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A SpaceX CRS-23October 6, 2021[5] ISS Kibo moduleDeorbited on July 25, 2022Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-4 as the country's first university-built satellites.
Maya-4CubesatAugust 29, 2021 Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A SpaceX CRS-23October 6, 2021ISS Kibo moduleDeorbited on July 27, 2022Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-3 as the country's first university-built satellites.
Maya-5[6] CubesatJune 5, 2023 Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A SpaceX CRS-28July 19, 2023ISS Kibo moduleDeorbited on December 8, 2023Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-6 as the country's second university-built satellites.[7]
Maya-6CubesatJune 5, 2023 Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A SpaceX CRS-28July 19, 2023ISS Kibo moduleDeorbited on December 12, 2023Same bus design as Maya-1. Deployed simultaneously with Maya-5 as the country's second university-built satellites.
MULASatellite2025 (planned)TBATBA2025 (planned)TBATBAPlanned

Notes and References

  1. Web site: April 7, 2020. Mario Alvaro. Limos. Goodbye, Diwata: The Philippines' First Satellite Crashes Back to Earth. 2020-06-27. Esquiremag.ph.
  2. Web site: 2020-11-29. Maya-1, PH’s first cube satellite, completes mission. 2021-03-04. Manila Bulletin. en-US.
  3. Web site: Maya-2, Philippines' 2nd CubeSat, has been launched to space station!. 2021-02-25. GMA News Online. en.
  4. Web site: 「きぼう」から超小型衛星4機を10月6日(水)に放出する予定です. 2021-10-05. 「きぼう」利用のご案内. ja.
  5. News: Arayata . Maria Cristina . 2 PH cube satellites now operational . 9 October 2021 . Philippine News Agency . 7 October 2021 . en.
  6. Jonathan McDowell . planet4589 . 1681649008949723136 . The Maya-5 and Maya-6 satellites, 1U cubesats from the U Philippines Diliman, launched to ISS on CRS-28, were deployed from the J-SSOD-26 package on the Kibo robot arm at 0700 UTC Jul 19. . 19 July 2023.
  7. Web site: Velasco . Angelo . IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination: Maya-5 . International Amateur Radio Union . AMSAT-UK . 3 April 2023 . en . 20 April 2021.