"In the next two years, a satellite named Tanah Air I will be launched. The name has its own philosophical meaning," Professor Josephat Tetuko Sri Sumantryo, a professor from Chiba University, said during a general lecture at the Riau Islam University on Thursday.
The professor, who is Indonesian, will be the owner and also researcher and will work under the Josh Mocrowave Remote Sensoring Laboratory (JMRSL).
Josephat said the word "I" can mean the first letter in Indonesia.
He added that he had waited for this project for a long time as this was his opportunity to work for Indonesia. Although he had lived and worked in Japan for a long time, his nationalism still remained and "this will be the form of my nationalism that I will give to the country which is technology transfer."
LAPAN is a non-ministerial government agency that carries out aeronautics research and development and application.
It supports the development of the satellite through research funds.
Josephat was born in Bandung, West Java, on June 25, 1970 and is a full-time professor at Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, University of Chiba, Japan, and also a visiting professor at various universities.
He is one of the holders of a micro-strip antenna that can be used to conduct direct communication with a satellite. He is also the inventor of circularly polarized synthetic aperture for unmanned aircraft and small satellites, as well as a three-dimensional weather forecast radar. (WDY)
