Philippine Space Week: Celebrating years of spacefaring progress

Whnzel Alvaran

The ratification of RA 11363 or the Philippine Space Act in 2019 brought with it the Philippine Space Week which is celebrated from August 8 to 14. Defined by the Philippine Space Agency as a week that promotes space awareness, it highlights the contributions of Filipinos in Space Science and Technology Application (SSTA), and acknowledges the progress of the Philippines when it comes to SSTAs.

SSTA’s applications go beyond discovering new celestial objects and researching our neighbour planets. Namely, modern technologies that apply SSTA could further improve our disaster risk reduction management. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has constantly proposed the Philippines to use remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) in order for quicker response time during disasters, noting how the Philippines could use the technology because of its geographic location. 

With this goal in mind, the country, over the years, has developed and launched a number of key space technologies that assist in mapping and assessing disaster-prone geological areas, with several more projects in line to show how far the nation has come in spacefaring.

Three years before RA 11363, the Philippines launched its first ever satellite into space: Diwata 1. Made with the purpose of predicting extreme weather systems like El Niño to assist agricultural productivity and defend food security, Diwata was named after the Filipino word for “fairy.” Hope was attached to the microsatellite as it was shot onto space on March 23, 2016.

Two years after and one year before RA 11363, the Philippines launched Diwata 1’s successor, Diwata 2. Alongside monitoring the El Niño phenomenon, Diwata 2 aimed to improve the Philippines’ response to natural disasters by using imaging to check for damages and using amateur radio to provide a means of communication for response teams. While Diwata 1 has been out of commission since 2020, Diwata 2 continues to orbit the skies as of today.

Meanwhile, after the fruition of the Philippine Space Act, the Philippines has made substantial progress beyond the Diwata microsatellites. Projects such as the Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) have already reported near-completion; projects that when completed, would heavily improve current solutions for the Philippines’ environmental issues.

Additionally, Spacefaring was a key topic during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA), with him mentioning a future project of a rocket launch exclusive to the Philippines.

So Philippine Space Week isn’t just commemorated for the “space” part of the occasion, but rather the “Philippines” part. Being behind on technology and the passion is a myth as our nation continuously progresses deeper into spacefaring, not just for show, but to help alleviate the problems it faces day by day.

From the Diwata microsatellites to current rocket launch projects, the Philippines has a bright future, a brightness it can take with it from the islands to the moon and the stars. To infinity and beyond.