By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, June 22: Nepal’s first nano-satellite, which was launched into the outer space on April 17, 2019, is going to collapse within a few months. As per the current report, the satellite is gradually falling down and it’s assumed that it will fall sometime in August, said Dr. Rabindra Dhakal, Chief of Faculty of Technology at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).
The satellite was put in space at 420 kilometers when it was launched. It is now fallen to 300 kilometers as it has been gradually falling down towards the earth, he said.
Avash Maskey and Hari Ram Shrestha had developed this tiny device. They were selected for a postgraduate study programme under a scholarship scheme of Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), Japan.
The Nepalisat-1 was launched from the rocket-launch site in Virginia of the USA at Nepali time 14.15 pm on April 17, 2019.
NAST has been collecting pictures captured by the nano-satellite from the ground station of its building.
“The first nano-satellite launching task was a milestone in the science and technology sector of Nepal. It has encouraged the scientists to launch more satellites in the days to come,” Dr. Dhakal said.
He further said that “the launching of first nano-satellite was a lesson for Nepali scientists and the setting up of a ground station at the NAST building can collect photos of any satellite in space”.
The weight of this nano-satellitee is 1.3 kg. The age of Nepalisat-1 is around three years. The satellite takes 90 minutes to go around the earth. It is visible in Nepal's sky for 5 to 8 minutes every day.
Nepal, together with the Sri Lankan and Japanese governments, had jointly launched the satellites having similar features. Sri Lanka had also entered space for the first time with Nepal on the same date.