Vietnam's MicroDragon satellite sends first signals back to Earth

ABO/NDO - The Vietnamese-made MicroDragon has communicated three times with the ground station at the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the control centre at Tokyo University.

The location of MicroDragon as of 9:30am on January 19 (Japan time)

The communications were made one day after the microsatellite was launched into space aboard Japan’s Epsilon-4 rocket, according to the Vietnam National Space Centre (VNSC).

The VNSC added that the first signals from MicroDragon suggest that it is working normally as designed.

 

The device, measuring 50x50x50cm and weighing 50kg, is expected to enter the state of stable operations in one or two weeks.

 

MicroDragon is a product of the basic satellite design component, part of a project on disaster and climate change prevention using Earth observation satellites funded by the Japanese government.

 

The satellite was developed by Vietnamese engineers under the guidance of Japanese experts.