• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Featured
  • More News ⌄
    • SatNews
    • SatMagazine
    • MilSatMagazine
  • Events ⌄
    • MilSat Symposium
    • SmallSat Symposium
    • Satellite Innovation
  • Contacts
  • SUBSCRIPTION

SmallSat News

You are here: Home / News / New Vietnamese NanoDragon Satellite Heading To Japan For Launch By JAXA

New Vietnamese NanoDragon Satellite Heading To Japan For Launch By JAXA

August 13, 2021 by editorial

A new, locally-made, smallsat developed by the Vietnam National Space Centre (VNSC) has been completed and sent to Japan for launch into orbit.

On August 11, the VNSC announced that their NanoDragon satellite was transported from Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi to Narita Airport in Tokyo that day, before being transferred to the Uchinoura Space Centre launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture and handed over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for launch preparations.

Scientists at the Vietnam National Space Center with their NanoDragon smallsat before shipping it to Japan for launch.

The 3U cubesat NanoDragon weighs approximately 4 kg and is comprised of multiple 10×10×34 cm (3U) modules. The entire process of researching, designing, integrating and testing the satellite’s functions was carried out in Vietnam.

The smallsat was developed by the VNSC (under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) as the result of the nano-class satellite development, launch and trial operation project, under the National Science and Technology Programme on space technology, from 2016 to 2020.

NanoDragon is tasked with using smallsat beam technology to receive automatic identification signals of ships for the purpose of tracking and monitoring vehicles at sea. In addition, the satellite has also been designed to verify the quality of the satellite posture and control system and a newly-developed, advanced, on-board computer designed specifically for small satellites. NanoDragon will be working from SSO at 560 km above the Earth’s surface.

In parallel with the satellite development, a ground station to operate the satellite after launch has been developed and installed at the VNSC at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in Hanoi.

Prior to NanoDragon, the first made-in-Vietnam satellite, PicoDragon (weighing 1 kg), was successfully launched with signals received in 2013. MicroDragon (50 kg), developed by a group of 36 young VNSC researchers under Japanese experts’ supervision, was also sent into orbit on January 18, 2019 and has successfully sent pictures from space to its ground station in Japan.

Aerial photo of the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan.

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019

© 2019–2025 SatNews

x
Sign Up Now!

Enjoy a free weekly newsletter with recent headlines from the global SmallSat industry.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing! You will now receive weekly SmallSat News updates.
We love our advertisers.
And you will too!

Please disable Ad Blocker to continue... We promise to keep it unobtrusive.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.