Republic of the Philippines
Office of the President
Philippine Space Agency
Philippine Standard Time
Thursday 24th of April 2025
PhilSA is building upon past and current gains in space R&D investments in the Philippines.
The PHL-Microsat program is the country’s first research and development initiative in small satellite systems for scientific Earth Observation (EO). The program successfully launched two 50kg EO microsatellites: Diwata-1 and Diwata-2; and a 1U nanosatellite, Maya-1, which carried an experimental Store-and-Forward (S&F) payload. The program also established capabilities in payload calibration and validation, ground station operation and infrastructure for EO data processing, archiving and distribution. The program was implemented by the University of the Philippines Diliman and the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) with the support of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research & Development (PCIEERD) and Hokkaido University and Tohoku University in Japan.
The Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement (STAMINA4Space or S4S) Program succeeds the PHL-Microsat program in further advancing knowhow and local capabilities in small satellite upstream and downstream technologies. Through increased localization of satellite mission planning, bus and payload research & development, ground operations, data processing and distribution activities, the S4S program supports endogenous capacity development that enables a local scientific-industrial base in space science, technology and applications. S4S is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and implemented by the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) and the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD).
The PEDRO Center operates three (3) multi-mission Ground Receiving Stations in the Philippines located in Metro Manila, Davao, and Iloilo. Currently operated by the DOST-ASTI, the PEDRO Center is one of the space infrastructure components intended to be transitioned to the PhilSA in the near term. The facility serves as the gateway to satellite images and other spaceborne data from Philippine Earth Observation (EO) satellites, as well as those from foreign and commercial data providers.
The Computing and Archiving Research Environment (COARE) houses publicly accessible high performance computing, data archiving and science cloud facilities that support high storage and compute-intensive requirements of local and international collaborative scientific research and development initiatives. The facility enables the vision of multiple data integration, fusion, visualization and analysis thatunderpins a vibrant and productive Philippine scientific enterprise.
The DATOS Project produces outputs for data-driven decision support systems. DATOS provides Filipinos and various agencies with advanced, quick, and understandable earth observation data solutions for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM), agriculture, environmental monitoring and maritime domain awareness, among other applications. One of its research thrusts is AI4Mapping, which applies Artificial Intelligence techniques on satellite images for automating nationwide mapping initiatives of the country.
The Digital Imaging for Monitoring and Evaluation or Project DIME aims to promote and utilize geospatial technologies and techniques for achieving near real-time visibility into the implementation of government infrastructure projects. A partnership between the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Project DIME leverages current and emerging capabilities in the application of EO satellites, drones and other platforms to complement and enhance current tools for project monitoring, management and evaluation towards ensuring proper and efficient use of government resources. The PhilSA shall continue to promote the benefits of the program through its space data information infrastructure development initiatives.
The SAR with AIS Project focuses on maritime and terrestrial monitoring using the country's acquired share of the NovaSAR-1 satellite. The official online portal of the project, SIYASAT, provides a secure data archive, visualization and distribution system for radar images and AIS data. The project is heavily involved with mapping activities in partnership with various government agencies.
The National Space Development Program (NSDP) was established to help craft the policy framework for space development and utilization and the proposed national space agency. Commissioned and funded by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the DOST (PCIEERD-DOST), the program conducted studies and stakeholder meetings towards formulating a space R&D, satellite utilization, and data sharing agenda for the country.
