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Thai Air Force to launch its first satellite this Friday from French Guiana

webfact

By webfact
in Thailand News

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, timendres said:

They have plans to bring this one back safely...

914293715_RTAFSpaceProgram.jpg.91510324e3627b07a9d15bddb93f0f9b.jpg

Well, that's only a little bit smaller than Napa-1, which as a 6U Cubesat, has dimensions of 12 x 24 x 36 cm, about the size of 6 loo rolls in a pack......

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Sydebolle Platinum Member

Sydebolle

Posted
Posted

Well, for that money the Thai air force, meteorological department and God-only-knows-who-else (maybe Anutin to spot dirty farang) they could have bought the information off, say Google or any other satellite operator. 

But it also explains, why the perpetually poor farmers (majority of the population) will keep on suffering, as quite understandable you cannot have submarines, aircraft carriers, tanks, a satellite, rescue the poor, poor Thai Airways national carrier AND some money left for something so unimportant like the very people who voted the political part of this hilariously scary and dangerous circus into office in the first place. 

As I am not paying for it it remains in the gifted hands of all those voters ........ 

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Bob A Kneale Gold Member

Bob A Kneale

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, simon43 said:

Some more details about this satellite.

 

Firstly, Thais didn't build it.

 

In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to observe and survey Thai air space for defence and national security purposes, as well as detecting hotspots to prevent bushfires and water resources to combat floods or drought. In this way, the satellite cameras will play a crucial role in the RTAF's defence system, strengthening national security and preventing threats.

 

Hmm, all these goals can be achieved when there are only 2 or 3 daily passes over Thailand, each with a 20 minute viewing window?

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with launching this kind of satellite to further one's knowledge of space technology, remote monitoring etc.  But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't ????

 

Why are you disparaging this so much?

 

"Firstly, Thais didn't build it".

Firstly, no one claimed that they did.

 

"In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to..." etc.

This OP did not make that claim so perhaps you should direct your derision to the Bangkok Post.

 

"But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't"

Hmm. The OP here didn't do that.

Edited by Bob A Kneale
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stouricks Gold Member

stouricks

Posted
Posted (edited)
24 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Why are you disparaging this so much?

 

"Firstly, Thais didn't build it".

Firstly, no one claimed that they did.

 

"In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to..." etc.

This OP did not make that claim so perhaps you should direct your derision to the Bangkok Post.

 

"But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't"

Hmm. The OP here didn't do that.

Why Bob, do you put SAD or CONFUSED on a post which is obviously meant as a joke, as in my post no 12, and several others?

Edited by stouricks
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Grumpy John Gold Member

Grumpy John

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, simon43 said:

Some more details about this satellite.

 

Firstly, Thais didn't build it.  It was purchased from a company based in the Netherlands.  It's a 6U size Cubesat, which will be placed into a low earth orbit (LEO), and will fall out of the sky after no more than about 5 years, (due to the pull of Earth's gravity).

 

Since it will be in a LEO (500 Km), this means that it will not appear stationary in the sky above Thailand, because the Earth is spinning.  It will appear to continually move across the sky from almost any location on Earth that it's viewed from.

 

Since the satellite doesn't appear stationary in the sky above Thailand, it will actually only be 'visible' for a couple of times each day, taking about 20 minutes to transit across the sky.  It's in this time-frame that the satellite camera can send photos back to the ground station in Thailand, (those could be real-time photos of Thailand, or stored photos that were taken when the satellite passed over another region of the Earth).

 

In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to observe and survey Thai air space for defence and national security purposes, as well as detecting hotspots to prevent bushfires and water resources to combat floods or drought. In this way, the satellite cameras will play a crucial role in the RTAF's defence system, strengthening national security and preventing threats.

 

Hmm, all these goals can be achieved when there are only 2 or 3 daily passes over Thailand, each with a 20 minute viewing window?

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with launching this kind of satellite to further one's knowledge of space technology, remote monitoring etc.  But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't ????

 

No mention of the thermo nuclear weapons it carries??? 

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kwonitoy Gold Member

kwonitoy

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, simon43 said:

Some more details about this satellite.

 

Firstly, Thais didn't build it.  It was purchased from a company based in the Netherlands.  It's a 6U size Cubesat, which will be placed into a low earth orbit (LEO), and will fall out of the sky after no more than about 5 years, (due to the pull of Earth's gravity).

 

Since it will be in a LEO (500 Km), this means that it will not appear stationary in the sky above Thailand, because the Earth is spinning.  It will appear to continually move across the sky from almost any location on Earth that it's viewed from.

 

Since the satellite doesn't appear stationary in the sky above Thailand, it will actually only be 'visible' for a couple of times each day, taking about 20 minutes to transit across the sky.  It's in this time-frame that the satellite camera can send photos back to the ground station in Thailand, (those could be real-time photos of Thailand, or stored photos that were taken when the satellite passed over another region of the Earth).

 

In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to observe and survey Thai air space for defence and national security purposes, as well as detecting hotspots to prevent bushfires and water resources to combat floods or drought. In this way, the satellite cameras will play a crucial role in the RTAF's defence system, strengthening national security and preventing threats.

 

Hmm, all these goals can be achieved when there are only 2 or 3 daily passes over Thailand, each with a 20 minute viewing window?

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with launching this kind of satellite to further one's knowledge of space technology, remote monitoring etc.  But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't ????

 

You know more about this than most on here.

But my 2 cents, rather than waste all this on cubesat so they can brag to the people of "owning" a satellite.

Why not just get a corporate account at https://www.planet.com/

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

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Posted
4 hours ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Why are you disparaging this so much?

 

"Firstly, Thais didn't build it".

Firstly, no one claimed that they did.

 

"In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to..." etc.

This OP did not make that claim so perhaps you should direct your derision to the Bangkok Post.

 

"But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't"

Hmm. The OP here didn't do that.

I think you misinterpret my comments ????  I'm not disparaging the Thai Air Force at all.  I'm a scientist, and previously designed/integrated large satellites (I now do the same with Cubesats). I work with facts.  Some media or spokespeople may provide wrong or incomplete information.  My post was to provide factual and interesting details about this satellite for forum members.

 

- Thai's didn't build this satellite is a fact, and an informative statement.  I'm not putting the Thais down at all - I know that they (understandably) have limited design/integration/test facilities.  It makes sense to buy 'off the shelf'.  (Note that university students in Thailand have successfully integrated a smaller Cubesat which was launched last year if I recall).

 

I commented on the statements by the Thai military spokesman (if the BP correctly quoted him/her), because some may get the impression that this is a geostationary satellite, capable of taking images of Thailand 24/7.

 

Take a chill pill Bob - stop reading things that aren't there...

 

@kwonitoy - yes, I guess the capabilities of this satellite (imaging) can easily be purchased from existing providers. I understand that many nations would prefer to 'own' their own satellite.  Since it's a LEO satellite, Thailand could also sell images of other regions that the satellite passes over and get some baht back on their investment.

 

@Blackcab - I was quoted about $20,000 to launch a 3U size Cubesat (I have one here on my desk, half-built, and waiting for me to find $20,000!). Since these are physically small satellites, they are usually launched as 'piggy-back' on a major satellite launch rocket - India often launches dozens of Cubesats in this manner at the same time.  I guess a 6U size satellite would demand a launch fee of $50,000, due to its larger size and mass.

 

 

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Three times a day for 20 minutes (one hour total)at a time the satellite can send data/pictures. That indicates to me that 23 more satellites are needed.

 

The satellite can send pictures 24/7, but it will only be over Thailand for maybe 2-3 times each day, (depending on the orbit), and a satellite ground station in Thailand would only be able to directly receive image data from the satellite during that time.

 

If I know the downlink frequency of Napa-1, I could receive the image data directly myself using my reception equipment here in Laos (it may be encoded of course).

 

LEO satellites are generally used to monitor slow-changing events, such as weather events.  You can't really use it for monitoring potentially fast-changing security events 'cos if you spot something of interest in the photo, your satellite is going to be passing over Mongolia or the like when you need the next photo ????

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Bob A Kneale Gold Member

Bob A Kneale

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, simon43 said:
21 hours ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Why are you disparaging this so much?

 

"Firstly, Thais didn't build it".

Firstly, no one claimed that they did.

 

"In another paper, the Thai military claim that this satellite would primarily be used to..." etc.

This OP did not make that claim so perhaps you should direct your derision to the Bangkok Post.

 

"But please don't dress this little Cubesat up as something that it isn't"

Hmm. The OP here didn't do that.

I think you misinterpret my comments ????  I'm not disparaging the Thai Air Force at all.  I'm a scientist, and previously designed/integrated large satellites (I now do the same with Cubesats). I work with facts.  Some media or spokespeople may provide wrong or incomplete information.  My post was to provide factual and interesting details about this satellite for forum members.

 

- Thai's didn't build this satellite is a fact, and an informative statement.  I'm not putting the Thais down at all - I know that they (understandably) have limited design/integration/test facilities.  It makes sense to buy 'off the shelf'.  (Note that university students in Thailand have successfully integrated a smaller Cubesat which was launched last year if I recall).

 

I commented on the statements by the Thai military spokesman (if the BP correctly quoted him/her), because some may get the impression that this is a geostationary satellite, capable of taking images of Thailand 24/7.

 

Take a chill pill Bob - stop reading things that aren't there...

"I think you misinterpret my comments  I'm not disparaging the Thai Air Force at all".

No, I was not misinterpreting your comments, I can read and I understand English.  You made a specific and disparaging point indicating that Thais did not build the satellite which suggested that that claim had been made by Thailand.  It was a point irrelevant to, and superfluous to, the OP, the content of which was not wrong or (relevantly) incomplete.  Those are facts.

 

I was reading exactly what was there.  That's a fact also.

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Bob A Kneale Gold Member

Bob A Kneale

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, stouricks said:

Why Bob, do you put SAD or CONFUSED on a post which is obviously meant as a joke, as in my post no 12, and several others?

I clicked on "Sad" because (a) I have an opinion about the comment that was made on a public forum and I thought that it was a sad comment, (b) the emojis are there to be used, by anyone*, and (c) the comment wasn't a funny joke, it was a p iss-take.

 

Now, a question for you, why do you* use the emojis on other poster's comments?

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Finally are the p***y "falang" good for something...

LoL, more to do with the luck of geography - it's cheaper on rocket fuel to launch from a site near the equator, such as French Guiana.

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