Raavana 1

Did You Know?

• The satellite was developed by Tharindu Dayarathna and Dulani Chamika Vithanage, scholars of Peradeniya University's Engineering Faculty and Asian Institute of Technology.
• It used magnetic torquers to reduce its angular velocity.
• The satellite took images of Sri Lanka and other countries near Sri Lanka.

Origin of the name

Sanath Panaavanna, Director General and Engineer at the Center for New Technology - Arthur C. Clarke Institute of Sri Lanka, along with two engineering students, sought an authentic name representing Sri Lankan culture and history. The name "Dadu Monara" was a go-to choice, referring to a flying device in early Sri Lankan folklore often credited as the first aircraft. Due to the word's complexity and difficulty for non-native speakers, the satellite was named after mythical King Raavana, who is said to have ruled Sri Lanka when the Dadhu Monara was built.

Launch

Raavana 1, a 1U CubeSat from Sri Lanka, was built by the Kyushu Institute of Technology. It was handed to JAXA on 18 February and launched to the International Space Station on 17 April at 2:16 a.m. Sri Lanka Standard Time, later deploying from there. It flew alongside Nepal’s first satellite, NepaliSat-1, as part of the BIRDS-3 batch, which also included a satellite from Japan. Orbiting at 400 kilometers, it aimed to capture fifteen images daily. Its tasks included sending ciphered short messages in the 437 MHz band, demonstrating low-power LoRa-based remote data collection, imaging for public outreach, measuring Earth’s magnetic field, testing a commercial alternative to expensive space glue, and performing active attitude stabilization.