WHAT IS THE SATELLITE?
- Natural Satellite
- Artificial/human-made Satellite
- The moon is a natural satellite of Earth, which takes 1 month to orbit the Earth fully.
- The Hubble Telescope is an artificial satellite of Earth, which takes only 95 minutes to fully orbit the Earth.
Today, we will only unlock some artificial satellites. Let's dive in~
ARYABHATA (India) ~ India launched its first satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975. It was named after an important Indian astronomer. This launch marked a key step in India’s space journey.
SPUTNIK 1 (Soviet Union) ~ Sputnik 1 was the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth. It was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.
ARABSAT 1 (Saudi Arabia) ~ A Saudi Arabian communications satellite operated by the Arab Satellite Communications Organization provided communication services to Arab states. The launch took place on 8 February 1985.
MMSAT 1 (Myanmar) ~ A Burmese microsatellite was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on February 20, 2021, and was deployed into orbit from the ISS on March 22, 2021.
HUMANITY STAR (New Zealand) ~ Humanity Star was a satellite that created visible, pulsing flares. An Electron rocket launched it into orbit on January 21, 2018. It re-entered the atmosphere on March 22, 2018.
INTASAT (Spain) ~ Spain's first satellite was created by the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) and was launched on November 15, 1974.
OSHUMI (Japan) ~ Japan's first artificial satellite was launched on February 11, 1970, by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (ISAS) from the Kagoshima Space Center.
KITSAT A (South Korea) ~ The first South Korean satellite was launched on 10 August 1992 from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) using an Ariane 42P H-10 launch vehicle, alongside NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and France's S80/T satellite.
CHALLENGE 1 (Tunisia) ~ Tunisia launched its first satellite, Challenge 1, on 22 March 2021. Russia sent it into space aboard a Soyuz 2 rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
EIRSAT 1 (Ireland) ~ A 2U CubeSat developed and built by University College Dublin (UCD) in Dublin, Ireland, with sponsorship from the European Space Agency. On December 1, 2023, EIRSAT-1 was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.