2019 Apr 18
The revolutionary project putting the country on the map, Sri Lanka’s first ever satellite Raavana-1, was successfully launched at 2.16 am today!
Launched into space at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, the satellite bordered to the Antares rocket carrying Cygnus cargo spacecraft and is bound to reach the International Space Station (ISS) by 6.30 pm local time.
Designed and developed by Tharindu Dayarathna and Dulani Chamika Vithanage from the University of Peradeniya and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, the research satellite is an incredible step forward for Sri Lanka, plunging us into the space age and leveling with the rest. The satellite was designed and built at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan.
1,000 cubic cm in size and weighing approximately 1.1 kg, the Raavana-1 is expected to orbit 400 km away from earth. It will have a minimum lifespan of one and a half years. The satellite has 5 missions, inclusive of capturing of pictures of Sri Lanka and its surrounding regions. Its Lora Demonstration Mission is to validate the module to be used to data download next satellites. The Attitude Determination and Control Mission of Ravaana-1 involves the team trying to reduce the angular velocity of the satellite using magnetic torques.
The satellite’s journey through space will indeed be a remarkable one; paving the way for more iconic work from Sri Lankans.
Images courtesy of NASA TV
