MalaysiaGIS.com

TIUNGSAT-1, scheduled for launched this evening from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Khazakstan, will appear like a speck in the Malaysia sky. That is, if you could see something 650km away hurtling at 7.5km per second.

But, the ground stations at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Planetarium Negara will have no such difficulty in locating it in the cosmic haystack, and tracking it with the aid of high-gain Yagi antennas locked on the satellite with aid of computers.

Within approximately 15 minutes of launch, Tiungsat-1 would have been in its intended orbit of 64 degrees inclination. It would have been another six to seven hours longer before the satellite was switched on by the command station at the Mission Control Centre at UKM (radio call sign 9M2MCS).

The UKM centre is headed by Dr Nafizah Goriman Khan (9M2NGK). The second ground station (9M2RPN), manned by Sangat Singh (9M2SS), situated at Planetarium Negara, will complement the UKM station. It will also receive the first telemetry signals to check the vital signs of the satellite's health.

Two amateur ground stations in Kuala Lumpur, capable of receiving signals from Tiungsat-1, are manned by Dr Mohan Arasu (9M2MD) and Datuk David Tan (9M2DT), both old timers in this business. Elsewhere in the world, there will be thousands of amateurs on watch.

Tiungsat-1 is a microsatellite available to all amateurs worldwide. It will also have an OSCAR (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) designation by AMSAT NA, a body that supervises all amateur satellites.

Tiungsat-1 will be like a flying mailbox available to radio amateurs worldwide for storing and forwarding messages, as well as downloading images.

This is indeed a seminal beginning, a first tottering step into the exclusive club of about a dozen countries in this business. It is not an earth-shattering event as there are at least a dozen low-earth orbit amateur micro-satellites already orbiting the earth every 100 minutes or so.

Malaysians have been tracking these satellites for years. The first such experience took place on Oct 4, 1957, when Russia surprised the world with the launch of Sputnik. Two well-known local radio amateurs - Leslie Rao and D.D. Devan (9M2DD) - picked up Sputnik's signals at Telekom's monitoring station at Cochrane Road, Kuala Lumpur, within days of the launch.

Colin Richards (9M2CR) was the pioneer who set up the first radio amateur ground station - in Port Dickson. Richards was a United Nations expert seconded to Malaysia in the 1960's, and was responsible for building and running the first Telecoms Training Centre in Gurney Road, Kuala Lumpur.

In the early days, we routinely communicated with each other using Russian Radio Sports (RS) series satellites. They are still popular and designed to introduce the new comers to satellites.

Richard's house in Port Dickson was truly a Mecca for amateurs. He has since migrated to Perth - in protest against pollution. Nevertheless, he still spends considerable time in Malaysia each year.

How did the idea of a Malaysia satellite come about ?

Like all dreams, it stemmed from the ability of leaders to have a vision of the future, to see beyond the problems of today and the promise of tommorrow.

One such 'dreamer' was Datuk Prof Dr Mazlan Othman, the then Director-General of Research and Education, Space Science Studies Division in the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment. It was her dream that we see fulfilled with the launch of Tiungsat-1. Datuk Mazlan is currently Director of the UN's Department of Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, a befitting recognition of her abilities.

What will Tiungsat-1 do?
Well, it has the usual garden-variety features that most orbiting micro-satellites carry. Its payload consists of:

• A Multi-Spectral Earth Imaging System (MSEIS)
• Meteorological Earth Imaging System (MEIS)
• Digital Store and Forward

How is Tiungsat-1 different from Measat 1 and 2 ?
Tiungsat-1 serves an entirely different purpose from Measat. Measat is a commercial geostationary satellite at an altitude of approximately 36,000 km. It is used for communication.

Tiungsat is a low-earth orbiting amateur satellite at an altitude of 650km and used for scientific and research studies, and also provides packet store and forward capability at 9600 and 38.4K bits/sec. As the satellite will only be available for a 8-12 minutes per orbit, it uses the highest practical data rate possible for a flying mailbox.

All these experiments will encourage space studies in institutes of higher learning. In this connection, the Planetarium Negara ground station is planning a series of seminar for students to learn more about satellites, and to observe first-hand the mechanics of tracking satellites in real time.

Since building satellites is a big and complex business, this assignment was given to a specifically-formed company - Astronatic Technology (M) Sdn Bhd - a wholly-owned company of the Malaysian Government, to recruit and train engineers in various disciplines. It was charged with the responsibility to build and launch Tiungsat-1.

ATSB is headed by Dr Ahmad Sabirin Arshad (9M2ASA), also a licensed amateur. Dr Sabirin's team produced Malaysia's first amateur satellite in collaboration with the University of Surrey.

The second satellite is already on the drawing board and, no doubt, we would have learnt much from our first effort.

Tiungsat-1 is a humble beginning, a first step in a long and arduous journey.