TOKYO (Reuters) – Myanmar’s first satellite remains aboard the International Space Station after the Myanmar coup, as the Japanese space agency and a Japanese university decide what to do with it, they said. two officials from the Japanese university.
The $ 15 million satellite was built by the Japanese University of Hokkaido in a joint project with the government-funded Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University (MAEU). It is the first of a set of two 50 kg microsatellites equipped with cameras designed to control agriculture and fishing.
Human rights activists and some Japanese officials are concerned that these cameras could be used for military purposes by the junta that took power in Myanmar on February 1.
This has put the deployment on hold, as the University of Hokkaido is in talks with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the two officials at the University of Hokkaido said.
“We will not get involved in anything to do with the military. The satellite was not designed for this, “one of the officials, a project manager, told Reuters, asking that he not be identified.
“We are discussing what to do, but we do not know when it will be deployed. If it stops, we hope that the project can be restarted at some point.
The manager did not say when the satellite should be deployed or when JAXA should make a decision to continue or delay it.
The second official from Hokkaido University said the contract with MAEU did not specify that the satellite could not be used for military purposes. However, the spacecraft’s data would be collected by the Japanese university and could not be accessed independently by Myanmar officials, the second official said.
Since the coup, university officials had not been able to contact the rector of the MAEU, Professor Kyi Thwin, the second official added.
JAXA officials could not be reached for comment. MAEU did not respond to calls seeking comment, nor did a Myanmar board spokesman.
The satellite was launched by NASA on February 20 as a small part of a large and varied payload of supplies to the International Space Station 400 km (250 miles) above Earth. Since then, it has been saved by JAXA within the Japanese Kibo experimentation module. Astronaut JAXA Soichi Noguchi is one of seven crew members who are now aboard the space station.
Japan has close relations with Myanmar and is one of its main aid donors. Despite condemning the violence, it has not taken such a tough stance against the coup as the United States and some other Western countries have imposed sanctions.
Although the spacecraft has not been built to military specifications, Teppei Kasai, an officer on Human Rights Watch’s Asia program, said it would be easy for Myanmar’s army rulers to appropriate the technology. for military use.
“Therefore, the Japanese universities involved should suspend the project and urgently review it for possible human rights risks,” Kasai said.
Reports by Tim Kelly; Edited by Peter Graff