The administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is committed to developing the MULA (Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment), a purely Philippine-made space satellite.
According to the Office of the Press Secretary, the President met with key officials of the Department of Science and Technology and engineers from the Philippine Satellite Agency on Wednesday, where they discussed the creation of the Filipino-made satellite.
In a meeting with DoST Secretary Renato Solidum and PhilSa officials led by Director General Joel Joseph Marciano, the President said he is looking forward to the development and full completion of MULA.
Mr. Marcos lauded DoST and PhilSa for their “commitment and determination” in launching MULA, the biggest Philippine satellite ever developed, the OPS said.
The satellite, which Malacañang dubbed a “game-changer in the Philippine space technology,” is expected to be launched in 2025.
Weighing approximately 130 kilos, the satellite can cover 73,000 square kilometers in a day to gather data from land, air, and sea areas inside the Philippine territory.
It can detect air and water quality, determine abundant fishing grounds, zoom in on traffic situations, presence of ships in Philippine waters, among others to improve maritime domain awareness, territorial monitoring, and security evaluation.
It also aims to improve maritime domain awareness as well as 24-hour territorial monitoring and security evaluation.
Funding for MULA is included in the proposed 2023 national budget, according to the OPS.