Lanka to enter space era with first satellite

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Sri Lanka would enter the space era on November 22 when the country’s first satellite takes to the orbit from Beijing, China at 9 30 pm Sri Lanka time. In seven minutes it would be positioned over Sri Lanka.

The country would now be brushing shoulders with another 44 nations which have satellites. ‘The SupremeSAT’, the co-owning company from Sri Lanka would also make history by becoming the 27th private company in the world to own a satellite.

For the first time the Sri Lankan national flag would be displayed in orbit with the launch of the satellite.

Only India and Pakistan own satellites in the region and ‘The SupremeSAT’ company is currently holding negotiations with the Maldives and Afghanistan to build a satellite for them.

The total investment for the project is estimated at US $ 360 million which also included the construction of a satellite Content Management Station and a Space Academy in Kandy which is now in progress.