Means to an End
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w ri t te n by John Rafael Ambag g r a p hi c s by Deitro Dazo
THE PHILIPPINE SPACE AGE IS underway. From the early dabs with space-related activities during the 1960s until the signing of the Philippine Space Act last August, the country has come a long way from being a mere observer to an actual player in space initiatives. The law, buttressed by the recent string of successful satellite launches of Diwata-1, Maya-1, and Diwata-2, sets up the country to be “space-capable” and “spacefaring” by 2022.1,2
rehashed the said move, purchasing Agila-2 with assistance from China in 1997.
In spite of the law being signed only last 2019, the Philippines is not exactly a rookie in space initiatives. In fact, one of its earliest attempts can be traced back all the way to the Spanish colonial era upon establishment of the Manila Observatory in 1865. 3 Subsequently, not much progress was made until the mid-1960s, when the government created the Philippine Communications Satellite (PhilComsat) as a means to provide the country with its own satellite system for communication and information purposes.4
During the 1950s, when the Philippines was still licking its wounds from the previous war and the myriad human exploitations that took place, Russia already launched Sputnik 1, the first human-made object to make its rounds about our planet. The launch, which took place on the 4th of October, 1957, sparked the mythicized space race at the time. 5
At the time of its inception, Philcomsat served as a founding member of the International Satellite System (Intelsat), an entangled conglomeration of 172 countries cooperating with each other in managing fax, cable, telephone, and TV transmissions. At the time, Philcomsat had exclusive franchise for satellite communication in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea. During the 1969 launch of the Apollo 11, Philcomsat’s equipment also made it possible for Asians to watch and participate with the well-anticipated moon landing. Fast forward to 1974, PLDT created the Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation (MPSC). At the time, incumbent President Fidel Ramos insisted on having a Philippine satellite in orbit, prodding MPSC to purchase Palapa B-2P from Indonesia, later renamed as Agila-1, the first satellite of the country, which was shifted to its new orbital slot on August 1996 upon acquisition.4 After which, PH
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The Philippines’ early attempts with space initiatives are interspersed along a rocky history spanning wars with three colonizers, transitionary governments, dictatorship, and a street revolution. Meanwhile, during the same span, space projects outside the Philippines are burgeoning at a tremendous pace.
And while PH was busy creating Philcomsat during the late 1960s, the US already launched three men to the moon via the Apollo 11 mission. Between the 1950s and the late 1960s, the two space giants, US and Russia, exchanged haymakers by sending satellites, humans, and even animals like dogs into space. The country’s recent move made it only the sixth Southeast Asian country to have a space program. We’ve been lagging behind by a tremendous margin, with Indonesia’s National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN in Indonesian) established as early as 1963. 2 Indonesia made the decision with military operations in mind, specifically creating usable rockets for its air force. 2 Meanwhile, Malaysia has ANGKASA, primarily tasked with remote sensing and earth observation. Singapore also has its own space agency in the form of the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing, and Processing (CRISP), housed under the National University of Singapore (NUS). It also processes retrieved satellite data. 2 Lastly, Thailand and Vietnam
