Angkasa
Encyclopedia
The Malaysian National Space Agency (MNSA; Malay
: Agensi Angkasa Negara, ANGKASA) is the national space agency of Malaysia. It was established in 2002 and its charter includes aims to upgrade, stimulate and foster the country's space programme through integrated and coordinated efforts by developing and applying space technologies. The agency is headed by Dr. Mustafa Din Subari who replaced the first Director General, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mazlan Binti Othman
.
. All of Malaysia's satellites are launched abroad.
is the first Malaysian microsatellite
. The satellite was developed through the technology transfer and training programme between Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd (ATSB) Malaysia and Surrey Satellite Technology of the United Kingdom. TiungSAT-1 was launched aboard the Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan
on 26 September 2000. The satellite was developed for experiments in Earth imaging, observation of meteorology, detection of cosmic ray
s, data storage and communications.
MEASAT (Malaysia East Asia Satellite) is the name of a line of communications satellites owned and operated by the company.
As of 2006, the MEASAT satellite network consisted of three geostationary
satellites designed and built by Boeing Satellite Systems
. MEASAT-1 and MEASAT-2 were launched in 1996 and MEASAT-3 in 2006.
The MEASAT-1 and 2 satellites were designed to provide 12 years of both direct-to-user television service in Malaysia and general communications services in the region from Malaysia to the Philippines
and from Beijing
to Indonesia
. With the launch of MEASAT-3, the coverage extends even further to an area encompassing 70% of the world's population.
MEASAT (Malaysia East Asia Satellite) is the family of communications satellite
s built abroad and launched in 1996 (MEASAT-1 and MEASAT-2) and in 2006 (MEASAT-3). The satellites provides direct-to-user television transmitting for Malaysia and general communications services in South-Eastern Asia. The satellites operates by private company Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd.
is a high-resolution Malaysian Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite that was launched on board a Falcon 1 July 14, 2009. It was placed into a unique near equatorial orbit
that presents many imaging opportunities for the equatorial region.
RazakSAT is an Earth-observing satellite developed in Malaysia and launched in 2009. Its primary instrument is a medium-aperture camera. Images from the camera are relayed to an Image Receiving and Processing ground station in Malaysia. It failed barely more than 1 year after launch, according to an audit report from October 2011.
on board Soyuz TMA-11
. The program was named after the Malay word for astronaut, Angkasawan
. It resulted in Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
becoming the first Malaysian in space on October 10, 2007.
The program was officially announced by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad
, as a joint programme with the Russian Federation. It was a project under the government-to-government offset agreement through the purchase of Sukhoi SU-30MKM fighter jets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Under this agreement the Russian Federation bore the cost of training two Malaysians for space travel
and for sending one to the International Space Station
(ISS) in October 2007. It resulted in Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becoming the first Malaysian in space on October 10, 2007.
The evidence suggests that the main objectives of the program are to uplift the national image and to instill in the younger generation greater interest in Maths and Science. At the launch,the Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis
said: "It is not merely a project to send a Malaysian into space. After 50 years of independence, we need a new shift and a new advantage to be more successful as a nation. "We want to awe and inspire, and spur Malaysians to attain greater success by embracing science and technology."
Later, Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis
was more specific as to the objective of the program when he said that it "was to create awareness among Malaysians the importance of science, technology and the space industry, which could help develop the economy further."
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
himself said that "I am not seeking fame or looking forward to be welcomed like a celebrity, but my quest is to inspire Malaysians, especially school children to like learning the subject of science and the space industry."
astronauts (for instance, how can one face the qibla
while orbit
ing the Earth).
The Malaysian National Space Agency, in co-operation with other Malaysian agencies, developed the "Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites at the International Space Station" with the help of 150 scientists and clerics. The handbook details how Muslim astronauts may observe Islamic rites while in orbit. Daily prayer times are aligned with those at the point of departure and if Mecca cannot be located, the astronauts may pray toward the Earth itself. Female Muslim astronauts are required to cover everything but the palms of their hands and their faces.
and would allow Malaysia to join the Asian space power
s.
For performing of starts of future indigenous space launchers and foreign operators of space launch services (usual launch pads or air-space systems like Russian air launch
etc.), Malaysia is planning to found energy-advantageous near-Equator
ial spaceport
in Tawau
in Sabah
in Malaysian part of Borneo
island.
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
: Agensi Angkasa Negara, ANGKASA) is the national space agency of Malaysia. It was established in 2002 and its charter includes aims to upgrade, stimulate and foster the country's space programme through integrated and coordinated efforts by developing and applying space technologies. The agency is headed by Dr. Mustafa Din Subari who replaced the first Director General, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mazlan Binti Othman
Mazlan Othman
Mazlan Binti Othman is a Malaysian astrophysicist who has served in several roles within her country, and as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna.-Early life and education:...
.
Satellite programs
Malaysia uses both satellites purchased abroad and developed in country by Astronautic Technology Sdn BhdAstronautic Technology Sdn Bhd
Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd or better known as ATSB was established in 1997 and is wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Inc under the supervision of the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation ....
. All of Malaysia's satellites are launched abroad.
Tiung SAT
Tiung SATTiung SAT
Tiung SAT is the first Malaysian microsatellite. The satellite is developed through the technology transfer and training programme between Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd Malaysia and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., United Kingdom...
is the first Malaysian microsatellite
Miniaturized satellite
Miniaturized satellites or small satellites are artificial satellites of unusually low weights and small sizes, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass .One reason for miniaturizing...
. The satellite was developed through the technology transfer and training programme between Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd (ATSB) Malaysia and Surrey Satellite Technology of the United Kingdom. TiungSAT-1 was launched aboard the Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
on 26 September 2000. The satellite was developed for experiments in Earth imaging, observation of meteorology, detection of cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
s, data storage and communications.
MEASAT
MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. (MYX: 3875, formerly Binariang Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd.), is a Malaysian communications satellite operator.MEASAT (Malaysia East Asia Satellite) is the name of a line of communications satellites owned and operated by the company.
As of 2006, the MEASAT satellite network consisted of three geostationary
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
satellites designed and built by Boeing Satellite Systems
Boeing Satellite Development Center
The Boeing Satellite Development Center is a major business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It brought together Boeing satellite operations with that of GM Hughes Electronics' Space and Communications division.-History:...
. MEASAT-1 and MEASAT-2 were launched in 1996 and MEASAT-3 in 2006.
The MEASAT-1 and 2 satellites were designed to provide 12 years of both direct-to-user television service in Malaysia and general communications services in the region from Malaysia to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. With the launch of MEASAT-3, the coverage extends even further to an area encompassing 70% of the world's population.
MEASAT (Malaysia East Asia Satellite) is the family of communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
s built abroad and launched in 1996 (MEASAT-1 and MEASAT-2) and in 2006 (MEASAT-3). The satellites provides direct-to-user television transmitting for Malaysia and general communications services in South-Eastern Asia. The satellites operates by private company Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd.
RazakSAT
RazakSATRazakSAT
RazakSAT is a Malaysian satellite carrying a high-resolution camera. It was launched into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 1 rocket on July 14, 2009. It was placed into a near-equatorial orbit that presents many imaging opportunities for the equatorial region.It weighs over three times a much as...
is a high-resolution Malaysian Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite that was launched on board a Falcon 1 July 14, 2009. It was placed into a unique near equatorial orbit
Near equatorial orbit
A near-equatorial orbit is an orbit that lies close to the equatorial plane of the object orbited. This orbit allows for rapid revisit times of near-equatorial ground sites.- See also :* List of orbits...
that presents many imaging opportunities for the equatorial region.
RazakSAT is an Earth-observing satellite developed in Malaysia and launched in 2009. Its primary instrument is a medium-aperture camera. Images from the camera are relayed to an Image Receiving and Processing ground station in Malaysia. It failed barely more than 1 year after launch, according to an audit report from October 2011.
Angkasawan program
The Angkasawan program was an initiative by the Malaysian government to send a Malaysian to the International Space StationInternational Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
on board Soyuz TMA-11
Soyuz TMA-11
Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...
. The program was named after the Malay word for astronaut, Angkasawan
Angkasawan
The Angkasawan program was an initiative by the Malaysian government to send a Malaysian to the International Space Station on board Soyuz TMA-11. The program was named after the Malay word for astronaut, Angkasawan...
. It resulted in Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is a Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and was the first Malaysian to go into space. He was launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on October 10, 2007...
becoming the first Malaysian in space on October 10, 2007.
The program was officially announced by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad . is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir...
, as a joint programme with the Russian Federation. It was a project under the government-to-government offset agreement through the purchase of Sukhoi SU-30MKM fighter jets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Under this agreement the Russian Federation bore the cost of training two Malaysians for space travel
Space travel
Space travel can refer to:*Spaceflight, the use of space technology to fly a spacecraft into and through outer space, which may include:*Spacefaring, capability of and activity in the art of spaceborn travel.*Human spaceflight...
and for sending one to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS) in October 2007. It resulted in Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becoming the first Malaysian in space on October 10, 2007.
The evidence suggests that the main objectives of the program are to uplift the national image and to instill in the younger generation greater interest in Maths and Science. At the launch,the Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis
Jamaluddin Jarjis
Dato' Sri Dr. Jamaluddin bin Mohd. Jarjis is a Malaysian politician and the former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. Currently he is the Malaysian ambassador to the United States.-Political career:...
said: "It is not merely a project to send a Malaysian into space. After 50 years of independence, we need a new shift and a new advantage to be more successful as a nation. "We want to awe and inspire, and spur Malaysians to attain greater success by embracing science and technology."
Later, Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis
Jamaluddin Jarjis
Dato' Sri Dr. Jamaluddin bin Mohd. Jarjis is a Malaysian politician and the former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. Currently he is the Malaysian ambassador to the United States.-Political career:...
was more specific as to the objective of the program when he said that it "was to create awareness among Malaysians the importance of science, technology and the space industry, which could help develop the economy further."
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is a Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and was the first Malaysian to go into space. He was launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on October 10, 2007...
himself said that "I am not seeking fame or looking forward to be welcomed like a celebrity, but my quest is to inspire Malaysians, especially school children to like learning the subject of science and the space industry."
Muslims in space
In April 2006, ANGKASA sponsored a conference of scientists and religious authorities, addressing the issue of how the circumstances of space travel would affect the obligations faced by MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
astronauts (for instance, how can one face the qibla
Qibla
The Qiblah , also transliterated as Qibla, Kiblah or Kibla, is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays during salah...
while orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
ing the Earth).
The Malaysian National Space Agency, in co-operation with other Malaysian agencies, developed the "Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites at the International Space Station" with the help of 150 scientists and clerics. The handbook details how Muslim astronauts may observe Islamic rites while in orbit. Daily prayer times are aligned with those at the point of departure and if Mecca cannot be located, the astronauts may pray toward the Earth itself. Female Muslim astronauts are required to cover everything but the palms of their hands and their faces.
Space launcher plans
In Summer 2001 MNSA started reviewing plans for a small indigenous space launcher that would be developed in collaboration with JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and would allow Malaysia to join the Asian space power
Asian space race
Several Asian countries have national space programs, and they are considered to be competing with each other to achieve scientific and technological advancements in space. The media has occasionally called this competition the Asian space race. The exploration of Outer space is of strategic...
s.
Infrastructure
MNSA has few satellite-linked ground stations and main Malaysia Space Centre including acting multi-laboratorial Mission Operation Centre, Optical Calibration Laboratory and currently building multi-facilitated Assembly, Integration and Test Centre.For performing of starts of future indigenous space launchers and foreign operators of space launch services (usual launch pads or air-space systems like Russian air launch
Air launch
Air launching is the practice of dropping a parasite aircraft, rocket, or missile from a mothership. The parasite aircraft or missile is usually tucked under the wing of the larger mothership and then "dropped" from underneath the wing while in flight...
etc.), Malaysia is planning to found energy-advantageous near-Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
ial spaceport
Spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories...
in Tawau
Tawau
Tawau is the administrative center of Tawau Division, Malaysia and the third largest town of Sabah after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.-Geography:...
in Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
in Malaysian part of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
island.
External links
- Official MNSA website
- History of Malaysian space program on Astronautix.com
- "Malaysia has high hopes for Moon" by Jonathan Kent, BBC News, August 28, 2005, retrieved July 7, 2006
- Malaysian astronauts to spin top