Abstract submitted for presentation at
26th United Nations / International
Astronautical Federation
Workshop on Space Technology for
Socio-Economic Benefits:
“Industry, Innovation and
Infrastructure for Development (3Is4D)”
Bremen, Germany 28 – 30 September, 2018
Presenter: Cheki Dorji
Kyushu Institute of Technology
Masters in Space Engineering
Bhutan, a landlocked Himalayan
kingdom, remained in self-imposed isolation until late 1960s. Ending its
isolation, Bhutan embarked on the process of socio-economic development. One
notable development on the information and telecommunications front is the
introduction of internet and television services in 1999. A little less than
two decades later, Bhutan has its first ever satellite, designed, built and
operated by Bhutanese engineers, in space.
Deriving inspirations from His
Majesty The King’s vision, Bhutan joined BIRDS-2 project in late 2016. The
project is a second in series of BIRDS project in Kyushu Institute of
Technology. BIRDS project is an international collaborative platform,
supported by Japan and specifically targeting non-space faring countries, to
have hands-on experience on designing, developing and operating 1U CubeSats.
The BIRDS project, with third in series so far, has supported nine countries
to launch their country’s first satellite or first satellite of a university
in few cases. The list of countries includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ghana,
Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines and Sri Lanka. The end goal of
the project, however, is for the trained engineers to return to their country
and start a sustainable space program in the country. To that end, project
country partners are expected to develop at least a CubeSat level satellite by
their own resources, engineers and project management.
Four Bhutanese engineers
participated in BIRDS-2 project, while also being enrolled in master’s course
in Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan. Just in over a year, development of
1U CubeSat was completed and was launched on 9th June 2018 from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA in Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX. The
satellite is intended to achieve five missions including taking pictures of
the homeland. Throughout the various stages of development, the team received
support from the government, media and public at large. The first ever
workshop on satellite and space was also held in March 2018 focusing on
‘Bhutan’s First Satellite Project: BHUTAN-1’, graced by the prime minister of
Bhutan.
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Close-up of
BHUTAN-1 on ground ©JAXA
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While Bhutan’s human resource
development in space is recent, the use of services and products of space,
from other countries, in various sectors is not new. Being a developing
country, space has been used to address challenges faced in social, economic
and environmental fronts. The space is used in fields like weather and flood
forecasting, climatic data collection, emergency communications, cadastral
mapping, and telecommunications among others. Most
of the sectors avail paid services and products of space from outside the
country. Because of the enormous role space has in achieving Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), especially for a developing country, it is important
that the country has human resources to carry out the missions and to use the
services and products, while also focusing on streamlining and supporting the
future of space activities in the country.
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