AGILA-1: PH's FIRST ACQUIRED SATELLITE


I am not sure how many of you is aware of this, but Diwata-1 is not the Philippines' first satellite. In 1996, Mabuhay Satellite Corporation under PLDT acquired Palapa B2-P, an Indonesian satellite that has been in space since March 20, 1987. From there, it was renamed to Agila-1 and became the Philippines' first satellite acquired while in orbit.

Palapa B2-P was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Delta-3920 PAM-D rocket. It has a mass of 692 kg at the beginning of its life. It is a telecommunications satellite operating in the C-band - receiving from 5.925 GHz to 6.415 GHz and transmitting from 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz.

Until the acquisition on 1996, it occupies the 113°E orbital slot. On August of the said year, it moved to its new orbital slot at 144°E. The Philippine's possession of the satellite was not long however, since it was deorbited 1998 - only more than a year after it was acquired.


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