NanoDragon, the first satellite made entirely by Vietnamese engineers was successfully launched on Tuesday morning. VNA/VNS Photo Đào Thanh Tùng

KAGOSHIMA — NanoDragon, the first satellite made entirely by Vietnamese engineers, lifted off from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on Tuesday.

After three previous failed launch attempts due to a combination of bad weather and technical problems, at 7.55am local time the Epsilon 5 rocket blasted into space from the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture.

On board the rocket, NanoDragon was due to separate and go into orbit at 9:07 (local time).

It is the first satellite that is researched, designed and manufactured entirely in Việt Nam.

It is 100x100x340,5mm in size and weighs 3.8kg.

The satellite is part of a national research project on space technology in 2016-2020 conducted by the Việt Nam National Space Centre (VNSC).

Previously, two other satellites were sent to orbit but they were created with the assistance of engineers from Japan. 

NanoDragon was among nine satellites carried by the Epsilon 5 rocket.

The satellite is tasked with two important missions. Operating in orbit at an altitude of about 560km it will receive signals to identify vessels, through AIS (Automatic Identification System) and send the signals to the monitoring centre to check the entry and exit of vessels as well as help avoid collisions. The second mission of Nano Dragon is taking aerial photos to help scientists perfect satellite navigation systems. 

The rocket measures 2.6m in diameter, 26m in length and weighs 96 tonnes. Tuesday's mission was the largest undertaken by Epsilon to date. — VNS