Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) – Filipino-made cube satellites Maya-3 and Maya-4 returned to Earth and ended their missions, the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement (STAMINA4Space) Program announced on Tuesday.
Maya-3 and Maya-4 reentered the Earth’s atmosphere on Aug. 4 and Aug. 8, respectively.
While in the orbit for 10 months, the two cube satellites carried a commercial off-the-shelf APRS-Digipeater Payload Demonstration, which employed packet radio technology to transmit information over amateur radio.
The STAMINA4Space Program said Maya-3 and Maya-4 transmitted APRS beacons to 10 countries, and amateur radio operators from eight nations have been successful in sending their signal waves through the two cube satellites.
“Maya-3 and Maya-4 were pivotal in the development of the local space industry. These CubeSats are experimental and educational platforms, and while all low-Earth orbiting satellites will eventually fall to Earth, what matters more are the lasting intangibles that the project brought – knowledge, skill, partnerships, and confidence that we can do it,” said STAMINA4Space Program leader Dr. Maricor Soriano.
“Maya-3 and Maya-4 showed that the country is capable of building satellites locally. We have successfully transferred the knowledge and know-how acquired abroad by virtue of foreign studies and proliferated those lessons locally,” said Renzo Wee, one of the engineers who developed the satellites.
Maya-3 and Maya-4 were developed in the University of the Philippines Diliman under the STAMINA4Space Program funded by the Department of Science and Technology. The program is implemented by UP and the DOST’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute.
Maya-3 and Maya-4 cube satellites have been launched into space in August 2021 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 spacecraft. Those were deployed into the orbit in October 2021.
The Philippines launched its maiden cube satellite Maya-1 in June 2018 and was deployed into the orbit two months after. It returned to earth in December 2020.
Maya-2 was launched to the International Space Station in February 2021 and was deployed into the orbit a month after. It was decommissioned in July this year.
The country also launched its first two microsatellites, Diwata-1 in 2016 and Diwata-2 in 2018. Diwata-1 was decommissioned in March 2020 while Diwata-2 remains in space.
