If everything goes as planned, Bhutan’s second satellite will be in the space by end of this year. An implementing arrangement document was signed between the Department of Information Technology and Telecom, DITT, and the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, in Thimphu today. However, most of the activities enshrined in the documents are already underway.
A group of three engineers from the DITT and a lecturer from the College of Science and Technology (CST) are in the process of developing a component of the satellite. Of the two components, another one is being developed by the ISRO.
According to the Deputy Executive Engineer of DITT, Cheki Dorji, who is also one of the engineers developing the component, the second satellite will have two components – the first one with a camera to take images of our country, and a second one that will enable communication with the satellite from the ground through radio-transmitter.
“We expect the images to be used for forest utilization, agriculture purposes, and for studying our water bodies. With the other components, the target is to enable communication between the ground and the satellite through hand-held radio,” he said.
Bhutan’s team is developing the second component. The team will soon send it to India for the environmental test as the country does not have the facilities to conduct such a test.
“The components need to be tested to study their survival capacity in environments such as rocket launch and space. These two environments are very harsh and the electronic components usually find it difficult to survive such an environment,” said Cheki Dorji.
A technical review of the satellite will be conducted next month and the team said they hope to launch the satellite by the end of this year. The second satellite will be bigger than BHUTAN-1, the country’s first satellite. It will be 30-cubic centimetres and weigh around 15 kilograms.
Bhutan launched its first satellite in June 2018. The life span of BHUTAN-1 came to an end in November last year and reportedly disintegrated over South America.
Yeshey Dema (Intern)
Edited by Chayku
