Once officially a law, the PhilSA
will be an attached agency
to the Office of the President
given its applications on
different areas like agriculture,
environment, defense, disaster
risk assessment, and science.
The Philippine Space Policy be
the country’s primary roadmap
for space development, aimed
at making the Philippines
a space-capable nation. Initial
funding for the space program
is pegged at P1 billion. PhilSA
will also be allotted P10 billion
after the effectivity of the act,
PHILIPPINE SPACE AGENCYJULY 2019 79with P2 billion to be disbursed
to the agency over five years.
According to the bill, the PhilSA
office and its facilities will be set
up in a 30-hectare land within
the Clark Special Economic Zone,
with additional areas for research
and launch sites to be developed
in the future.DECADES IN THE MAKING
While the landmark bill is a
fairly recent development, the
Philippines has actually been
working on space technology
for the last few decades. In the
1960s, the government built a
satellite receiving station during
the Marcos era. By the 1970s,
the country ventured on its first
rocket development program.
In 1996, Mabuhay Satellite
Corp., a Filipino private firm,
acquired the country’s first in-
orbit satellite Aguila-1. A year
later in 1997, the company’s own
telecommunications satellite
Aguila-2, which was developed by
a U.S. company, was launched to
space from China. And of course,
who could forget Diwata-1, the
first microsatellite developed by
Filipinos, which was launched in
2014? Following the success of
Diwata-1, the government was
able to send two more satellites,
the Diwata-2 microsatellite and
Maya-1 cube satellite in 2018.Notice that these milestones
were so far apart, largely
because the Philippines has had
difficulties with sufficient funding,
expertise, facilities, and the lack
of a central governing agency
for developing such technology.
At present, the country’s
space program is maintained
by several agencies under the
Department of Science and
Technology (DOST). Hopefully
the establishment of PhilSA will
change all that.BENEFITS OF A SPACE PROGRAM
The space program’s framework
covers six key areas: national
security and development; hazard
management and climate studies;
space research and development;
space industry capacity building;
space education and awareness;
and international cooperation.
The bill seeks to spur
development within these areas,
the progress of which when
sustained is expected to give the
needed boost not only in the field
of science but also in allied fields,giving the Philippines a leg up in
finding solutions to some of the
country’s biggest problems.For example, development of
more satellites can help improve
disaster mitigation measures
by providing accurate
information which would allow
for early warnings and prediction
of disasters.Space technology also opens
up opportunities to enhance
production and profitability of
agribusinesses through soil
and weather monitoring and
assessment. Part of the Diwata
satellites’ functions is to observe
weather disturbances in the
Philippines. More satellites like
these would mean more data
that would help produce more
accurate weather forecasts,
which in turn would help the
agriculture sector decide when
and what to plant or harvest.
This could mean better yield
and less waste for the
agribusiness area.A robust space program will
also enable improved national
security, especially in the waters
surrounding the Philippine
archipelago. This would mean
we wouldn’t have to solely rely
on satellite imageries from
foreign institutions or allied
governments. Enhancements
in this field would give the
Philippine Coast Guard and the
Navy a huge boost in their task of
protecting Philippine territories.Other applications also include
helping with the conservation
and preservation of the
environment, improved urban
planning, transportation, and
communication networks.A DIFFERENT VIEW OF THINGS
The Philippines has an existing
space program under the DOST,
so the country isn’t actually
starting from scratch. But there’s
definitely much to be done. With
the PhilSA set in place once the
bill is enacted into law, there
will finally be a clear guiding
principle upon which the country
can build, support, and sustain
what the pioneers have started
decades ago.Some might question why it
is necessary to even invest
in a space program when the
government can focus on other
pressing issues. It is a valid
concern. But building a space
program means more than just
sending a satellite to space
or developing rockets that can
carry us to the cosmos.
If it isn’t already apparent,
the institutionalization of
a sustainable space program
will enable Filipinos to see out
of the box and devise solutions
that were otherwise unthought
of. Sometimes, the answers
aren’t visible on the ground level.
We have to have a view from
a higher ground to see things
differently. The Philippine space
program will do just that, literally
and figuratively.Building
a space
program
means more
than just
sending a
satellite to
space or
developing
rockets that
can carry
us to the
cosmos.”
NASA