File photo: Satellite
Bills that would establish the Philippine Space Agency (PSA) have now been filed in Congress.
These are House Bill 3637 and Senate Bill 1211, which are expected to undergo first reading in January next year.
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said, having a space agency in the country is timely and would help a lot in times of calamity and, especially for national security.
“All of these things put together, I think, justifies the investment in space technology,” Sec. Dela Peña said.
Dr. Rogel Mari Sese of DOST’s Philippine Space Science Education Program said, having a space agency means the government can save 40% of its billing for satellite images.
Satellite can be used to estimate how much rice can be harvested per season or to locate large number of fish in the ocean.
“Based on the studies that we have done, we saw that in terms of economic benefits, every 1 peso that the Philippines will invest in a space program will get a return of about 2.50 pesos,” Dr. Sese said.
Last year, the first Philippine microsatellite named Diwata-1 was launched which cost 840 million pesos. Meanwhile, Diwata-2 is expected to be launched in 2018.
In the same year, DOST is targetting the establishment of the Philippine Space Agency.
The government has allocated 1 billion pesos each for 2017 and 2018 and 2 billion pesos of every succeeding year.
They will also train up to 800 individuals within 10 years under the program. — Rey Pelayo | UNTV News & Rescue
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