VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam has made a big leap in recent years in the space industry with telecommunication satellites in a geostationary orbit, and has now has set to work on carrier rockets. It has successfully launched the MicroDragon satellite into orbit and is about to open its first space museum.

Vietnam has made a big leap in recent years in the space industry

Japan has donated artifacts for the first space museum of Vietnam, which is under construction in the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park in Hanoi. This is considered a milestone marking the successful launch of the MicroDragon satellite into orbit on January 18.

Nguyen Duc Cuong, chair of the Vietnam Aerospace Association (VASA), said the space museum is part of a complex of works including the Space Projector and Hoa Lac Observatory developed by the Vietnam Space Center.

The museum, together with other works in Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, aims to encourage cosmology students to learn about the universe, and offer a basis for space technology industry development.

The professor said Vietnam, like other countries, now has a satellite of its own. In 2008, Vietnam’s first commercial satellite, Vinasat-1, was successfully launched into orbit.

Following the success four years ago, Vinasat-2 was launched into orbit. The successful launch of two satellites into orbit marked the historic milestone in the telecommunications industry and Vietnam’s sovereignty in space.

He said Vietnam needs to have a space to display its great achievements, so that people know that Vietnam also has telecommunication satellites in geostationary orbit.

Besides the two satellites, manufactured by the US, Vietnam also has a remote sensing satellite (earth observation satellite) VNREDSat-1 made by France. 

In addition, Vietnam has MicroDragon, designed and manufactured by Vietnamese engineers with cooperation of Japan.

Vietnam now can manufacture micro satellites with the weight of one kilogram and is designing and manufacturing nano satellite, weighing 10 kilograms.

“In the immediate time, we will display the models of these products. There may be also artifacts that introduce the achievements of the world’s space technology.”

Cuong said that Vietnam’s achievements in space technology remain modest, but he believes big progress will be made thanks to the cooperation programs with other countries.

These include cooperation programs with Japan and other countries which help Vietnamese engineers become involved in the process of designing, experimenting and manufacturing larger satellites.

Japan, for example, will join forces with Vietnam to manufacture LOTUSat-1 (500 kilograms) and possibly LOTUSat-2 as well.

Most recently, Vietnamese engineers are working with Japanese on a Micro satellite weighing 50 kilograms. It will observe coastal waters to assess water quality, and monitor changes to serve Vietnam's aquaculture industry.

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