Dubai
DMSat-1, Dubai’s first miniature environment-monitoring satellite, successfully blasted off to space on Monday.
The momentous occasion was lapped up by a delighted group of Emirati engineers, who were stationed at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) control room.
The nanometric satellite achieved the feat at 10:07am UAE time from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Altogether, 38 satellites from 18 countries were onboard the Russian-made Soyuz 2.1a rocket launcher.
During the launch experts were glued to the giant display screens at MBRSC, which adorned the walls of the control room.
They waited with bated breath till the completion of the third stage of nose module separation after the lift-off.
They broke into a thunderous applause to celebrate the success of the launch, which was twice postponed since Saturday (March 20).
Initially, the rocket was all set to launch DMSat-1 from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10.07am on Saturday.
Later, the launch date was changed to Sunday (March 21) due to a surge in voltage, the Russian space agency Roscosmos had announced. A second attempt of the launch on Sunday was also deferred due to technical snags.
Ahmed Wali, Mission Controller, DMSat-1, said: “During such missions, postponement of a launch date is not all that uncommon. Every launch has some minor issue, and the launch is delayed for the benefit of the mission.”
He added, “We’re proud that we have launched our satellite successfully into space today. Before the launch we were stressed because one doesn’t know if it’ll be successful but once we know it was successful, happiness is inevitable, and the team is overjoyed.” The project team includes 30 Emirati engineershard.—Agencies
