PH’s 2nd CubeSat “Maya-2” Launched into Space

In a press release posted on the Facebook page of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato de la Peña, Philippines’ second cube satellite (CubeSat) Maya-2 was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday, February 21, 2021, at 1:36 AM (PHT) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Station in Virginia, United States through the S.S. Katherine Johnson Cynus spacecraft.

“The country witnessed another historic moment as its second cube satellite (CubeSat) Maya-2 was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) today, February 21, 2021 at 1:36 A.M. (PHT) aboard the S.S. Katherine Johnson Cynus spacecraft.”

-DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña | Facebook

Furthermore, Maya-2 was launched to the ISS along with the nanosatellites of:

• Paraguay: GuaraniSat-1 CubeSat
• Japan: Tsuru CubeSat

Maya-2

In 2018, Maya-1 was launched and it contains Automatic Packet Radio Service Digipeater which can communicate with ham radios and it was decommissioned on November 23, 2020.

Maya-2’s development started in 2018, and it’s part of the 4th Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project, a cross-border interdisciplinary CubeSat project hosted at Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan.

Maya-2 is a technology demonstration and educational platform geared to collect data remotely by Store-and-Forward (S&F) Mechanism, and it was developed and improved using the knowledge gained from developing its predecessor Maya-1.

It was stated on the press release that, “aboard the 1.3 kg satellite is a camera for image and video capture, an Automatic Packet Reporting System Message Digipeater (APRS-DP), attitude determination and control units for active attitude stabilization and control demonstrations, Perovskite solar cells and Latchup-detection chip.”

Maya-2 CubeSat Team

Maya-2 was developed by three Filipino scholars: BIRDS-4 Project Manager Izrael Zenar C. Bautista, BIRDS-4 Project Member Mark Angelo C. Purio,  and BIRDS-4 Project Member Marloun Sejera.

Watch the Launch

Here’s the Northrop Grumman cargo launch carrying the BIRDS 4 Satellite Project – KyuTech CubeSats Maya-2, Tsuru, and GuaraniSat-1:

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Source: DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña