“BRAC Onnesha”, the first nano-satellite made by a Bangladeshi university, entered into the orbit around Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) today 7 July 2017 (Friday) at 3:10pm.
To celebrate the historic moment, BRAC University (BRACU) organised a ceremony at its auditorium on today to make public the real time launching of “BRAC Onnesha”.
The day’s program on Bangladesh stepping into space for the first time started at 2:30pm with a video conference organised by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Japan.
"BRAC Onnesha", a cube measuring 10cm along its edge and weighing around one kilogramme, was taken to International Space Station (ISS) by SpaceX, FALCON 9 Rocket by its CRS-11 mission on 4 June 2017.
Architect Yeafesh Osman, Hon'ble Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology (Guest of Honour), Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Guest of Honour), Toshiyuki Noguchi, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh (Guest of Honour), Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb Ph.D., Vice Chancellor, BRACU, Professor Dr. AA Ziauddin Ahmad, Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, BRACU, Professor Abdul Mannan, Chairman, University Grants Commission, Bangladesh, Dr. Shahjahan Mahmood, Chairman, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and members from SPARSSO attended the ceremony.
Hon'ble Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, chaired a discussion as the chief guest from 4:00pm-4:40pm.
The program ended with a visit by the guests to the first satellite ground station in Bangladesh on the roof of Building #4 built by university students to communicate with “BRAC Onnesha”.
Built to communicate with "BRAC Onnesha", the ground station was inaugurated by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG, Chairperson, BRAC; and Chairperson, Board of Trustees, BRAC University (BRACU) on Thursday, 25 May 2017.
Earlier on 8 February 2017, BRACU became the first Bangladeshi educational institution to get its very own nano-satellite, developed and assembled by three of its students -- Abdulla Hil Kafi, Raihana Shams Antara and Maisun Ibn Monowar -- using technology and facilities of a Japanese university.
Side by side six students started working on the ground station and two more students recently joined the team under the guidance of two advisers from the faculty -- Dr. Md Khalilur Rahman and Dr. Md. Hasanuzzaman.
The students are Mohammed Shourobh, Aynul Huda Emil, Bijoy Talukder, Sananda Jagati Choyon, Jamil Arifin, Arafat Haque, Md Sakiluzzaman and Adnan Sabbir.
The BRACU researchers will analyse and interpret data taken in the form of high quality photographs, observe space environment and help serve academic and research goals.