Eastwood Avenue, Bagumbayan, Quezon City
December 19, 2022

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. visited the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) main office and led the inaugural meeting of the Philippine Space Council (PSC) as its new Chairperson.

Created under the Philippine Space Act (Republic Act No. 11363), the Philippine Space Council is the principal advisory body for coordinating and integrating policies, programs and resources related to space science and technology (S&T) applications. Under the law, the PSC shall approve the implementation of Philippine space policies in accordance with international conventions, ensure the appropriate allocation of resources to support PhilSA’s performance of its mandate, and approve strategic directions and decisions for the implementation of PhilSA.

Prior to the meeting, President Marcos Jr. got to see the country’s satellites up close through mounted exhibits showcasing the Philippines’ satellite technologies, image acquisition and processing capabilities through Earth observation satellites. The President took keen interest and expressed his amazement as he is shown replicas of Diwata-1, the nation’s first microsatellite, as well as Diwata-2 and the Maya-1 cube satellite.

He also spent time discussing with the PhilSA engineers during the tour and tried the controls in the reaction wheels, one of the electromechanical devices in the Diwata-2 satellite, on display in the exhibit area.

The country’s satellites have been contributing significantly to the works of other departments and government agencies in addressing disaster risk reduction and management, environmental protection, climate change, maritime domain awareness, agriculture and other important concerns across the Philippines.

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