Nepal will be creating its own space in outer space by putting its own first satellite ever in orbit- Nepali Sat-1

Come April 17 at 2:31 am and Nepal will be creating its own space in outer space by putting its own first satellite ever in orbit- Nepali Sat-1. The nano-satellite built under project Birds-3 by two Nepali engineers Awash Maskey and Hareram Shrestha pursuing space engineering in the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) University in Japan will be launched from a facility in USA.

The first ever Nepal-made nano-satellite will get to space along with Sri Lanka’s ‘Ravan-1’ and Japan’s Ubishu, the combination of which would measure 1,000 cubic centimetres in volume and 4.5 kilogrammes in weight, according to NAST’s Chief of Faculty of Technology, Rabindra Prasad Dhakal.

Dhakal shared the Nepali nanosatellite would take pictures of various places in the country and collect and compile the information about the mountains, forest, glacier lakes among others and send them to the ground station. None from Nepal will leave for Japan during the launch to ease off the economic burden on Nepal. But Dhakal informed that talks were ongoing about sending some Nepali officials to Japan once the nano-satellite finds its location in orbit. “The nano-satellite once launched to space will stay in the International Space Station for a month,” informed Dhakal.

Nepal Academy of Science and technology (NAST) is preparing to build a ground station which will monitor and keep records of the information sent from the nano-satellite. NAST has already called a tender to set up the ground station needed for the communications with the nano-satellite once it blasts off to space.

The maker duo, 27-year-old Maskey and 32-year-old Shrestha, have been rigorously engaged in the making and launching process of the nano-satellite which the NAST high-ranking officials believe would boost the confidence of the Nepal scientists as well as enthuse them for further innovations and creations.

These Nepali youths are working hard at day and toiling harder at night offshores to help Nepal join the league of many space faring nations that have sent their own hundreds of satellites since the Russia (then USSR) launched the world’s first artificial satellite- Sputnik- to outer space in 1957.