THE Philippines may not have a robust space industry yet, but the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) will continue to help boost the capabilities of the country’s local industries by sharing its data and knowledge resources.
PhilSA director general Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr. told the BusinessMirror that “space-adjacent companies,” specifically those involved in the semiconductors, electronics, machining and manufacturing industries, can benefit from the agency’s space resources.
“What we have is know-how. More importantly, what our engineers have is love of country. So you want to be able to share this know-how,” Marciano said at the sidelines of the opening program of the first Philippine Space Week celebration on August 8 in Quezon City.
The celebration coincided with the fourth anniversary of the signing of Republic Act 11363, or the Philippine Space Act that created the agency.
According to Marciano, PhilSA can help companies open new markets for their products if they have components that “can be used with more robustness to work in space.”
“Also, quite important [is creating] a new range of high-value capabilities for their engineers,” he said.
He acknowledged the capability of PhilSA personnel to assist these companies, having helped build the country’s satellites or after taking graduate studies and trainings abroad.
“[These] things you learn while doing your master’s degree or PhD, building Diwata-1, Diwata-2, or Maya in Japanese universities. Now you’re back in the country working for PhilSA, the university or DOST [Department of Science and Technology], you pay it forward. You look at local companies here and tell them if you’re building that for Earth. If you do this test, then maybe it can work in space. These are [our] resources,” he explained.
While the Philippines is ready to monetize its space data, Marciano emphasized the need to open up these data first to build capacity, and part of this “heavy lifting” is appreciation for these capabilities and make them more accessible.
Fostering international cooperation
MORE than monetization, Marciano explained to BusinessMirror PhilSA’s role in actively contributing to international cooperation and goodwill through the use of its satellites.
“Other countries come to our aid when we have typhoons and disasters because they have satellites flying over and taking pictures. [They] give [their data] to us, and we process and value-add. But since we also operate a satellite, we can come to [their] aid when they need it,” he said.
These are among the key mandates of PhilSA, which also includes national security and development, hazard management and climate studies, space research and development, and space education and awareness.
Proclamation 302 signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last July 25 declared August 8 to 14 every year as Philippine Space Week.
In his opening message at the event, Marciano explained that the declaration “recognizes the vital role that space science, technology and its applications play in the lives of Filipinos.”
These include the use of satellites and their by-products and services and the advancement of “humankind’s collective scientific knowledge and understanding.”
Value creation from space resources
“WE propose #YamangKalawakan—which literally means space resources or space wealth—to take on a bigger, more figurative and encompassing meaning,” Marciano said as he explained the celebration’s theme.
He said “#YamangKalawakan tungo sa maunlad na kinabukasan” reflects PhilSA’s mission of value creation, which aims to “build and sustain a robust space ecosystem that adds and creates value in space for and from Filipinos, and for the world.”
“To guide us and to frame this mission of creating value, we look at value chains for strategy guidance. A crucial part of this chain are the end-users. That is, those to whom we push, or, more importantly, those who pull on, the space-based capabilities that we strive to build,” he said.
“Without the end-users or without the utilization,” he explained, “socio-economic benefit from space science technology and applications cannot possibly be had.”
Agreements with five agencies
DURING the event, PhilSA signed agreements with five government institutions to deepen space data acquisition and the use of space science and technology (S&T) applications for value creation.
These agencies include the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR).
DBM Undersecretary and Chief Information Officer Maria Francesca M. del Rosario signed the agreement with PhilSA to implement the “Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation” project.
The initiative will improve monitoring of government property or -funded infrastructure projects using data and images from satellites processed and made available by PhilSA, reduce costly on-ground efforts, such as field-based validation activities and ensure the proper use and expenditure of public funds.
DOST-ASTI Chief Science Research Specialist Alvin Retamar and LBP Senior Vice President Elcid Pangilinan signed the agreement for S&T research collaboration on the use of space data and analytics for financial applications.
MinDA Secretary Ma. Belen S. Acosta signed a collaboration agreement on the use of space assets to promote the socio-economic development in Mindanao.
The collaboration, called PhilSA Integrated Network for Space-enabled Actions towards Sustainability (Pinas) Mindanao, highlights the increasing relevance of geospatial data in local government policy-making, planning and monitoring.
Pinas Mindanao seeks to develop projects in different local government units in Mindanao to advance peace and development, promote best practices in governance and empower communities towards socio-economic inclusion.
DA-BFAR assistant director Isidro Velayo Jr. and DOST-ASTI’s Retamar signed the agreement on the use of space S&T remote sensing, and data science applications to support sustainable fisheries and marine biodiversity conservation.
The collaboration will also utilize space S&T, remote sensing, and data science applications to enhance fisheries management and application.
Tackling air pollution in the country from space, PhilSA signed a Record of Discussion with the Korea International Cooperation Agency on August 2.
This will help strengthen the Philippines’ capacity to monitor the air quality and develop plans and policies to address air pollution.
The agreement seeks to build the Pan-Asia Partnership for Geospatial Air Pollution Information Project and the Pandora Asia Network (Papgapi-PAN) in the country.
Papgapi-PAN is a technology-transfer, data-sharing, capacity-building, and international cooperation initiative on air pollution.
Image credits: PhilSA