Diwata-2 was successfully launched to space on October 29, 2018 at 12:08
GMT+08 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan via H-IIA F40 rocket.
It is one of the small satellites piggybacked with the main payloads
IBUKI-2, also known as GOSAT-2 (JAXA's Second Greenhouse Gases Observing
Satellite), and KhalifaSat, a remote sensing Earth observation satellite
developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United
Arab Emirates. The other small satellites are the Japanese-made Tenkou,
PROITERES-2, Stars-AO, and AUTcube-2. Diwata-2 was inserted into the
Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of 621 km, 43 minutes and 20 seconds
after rocket lift-off.
On Oct 29, 2018 at 13:52 GMT+08, initial contact was established between
Diwata-2 and the Ground Receiving Station (GRS) located at the Department
of Science and Technology Advanced Science and Technology Institute
(DOST-ASTI). Short telemetry data was received from the satellite on that
day. Diwata-2 was initially tracked using pre-launch orbital parameters.
As of 12:40 PM yesterday, October 31, 2018, the GRS can now read the
satellite's status, including vital signs such as fully charged batteries,
normal power consumption, and good communication link. Commands were
successfully sent and initial check procedures will continue throughout
the first week from launch. Initial image captures from the cameras can
be expected in the coming days.
PHL-Microsat
Diwata2 twitter