Kathmandu, May 11: The Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) has made 2 more satellites after the success of its first nano-satellite project.
According to Dr. Rabindra Dhakal, Chief of Faculty of the NAST, the process to launch the satellite has not moved ahead for the last 4 months. NAST has been without a Vice-Chancellor (VC) after the end of term of former VC Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha.
A team of scientists led by Dr. Abhas Maskey, the first nano-satellite developer, developed the two satellites named Dafe and Munal in Nepal, which are three times larger in capacity to the previous one.
NAST started the Dafe development project in 2022 and around 24 engineers were engaged in it under the space mission training. He added that the Dafe would be launched from Japan after the final model test was completed from Thailand. The NAST has collaborated with a Thai agency for this. The budget for it is Rs. 10 million with the support of a Thai agency.
As for the Munal, it was developed by 9 students of 3 high schools. Under the supervision of the team of engineers who built the Dafe, the students developed it. Developed in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Indian space agency, the Munal satellite will be launched in August. The development budget of Munal is about Rs. 20 million, and the necessary fund has been raised from donations. Nepalese living abroad have provided more funds for this project than the organizations, banks and other donor agencies.
According to Maskey, the satellite will provide weather information, including fire, flood etc. from the images captured by it, helping us in the weather forecast.
