PH space agency forges partnership with UN body to boost disaster response

Philippine Space Agency logo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) will be sealing a partnership with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs on Friday in order to boost the country’s capacity on disaster response through satellite images.

“Isang target ng kooperasyon sa ilalim ng MOU [memorandum of understanding] ‘yung karagdagang pagbuo ng kakayahan patungo sa mabisa at pinalawak na paggamit ng mga impormasyong nakabatay sa space, mga imahe ng satellite,” PhilSA Director General Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. said in a televised briefing.

(One target of the cooperation under the MOU is to build additional capacity for effective and wider use of space-based information like satellite images.)

“Nilalayon ng kasunduan ng PhilSA at ng UN na higit palakasin ang ating kakayahan ng bumuo at gumamit ng space technology para makapaghanda tayo at magsaayos ng mga ahensya at mga komunidad sa panahon ng mga sakuna, kalamidad at emergencies,” he added.

(The partnership of PhilSA and the UN aims to strengthen our capability to create and use space technology to prepare agencies and communities in case of disasters, calamities, and emergencies.)

Apart from this, Marciano said the partnership also intends to improve other socio-economic programs of the country in terms of agriculture and environmental protection and preservation.

It was in 2019 when the Philippines established its own space agency.

The PhilSA is mandated to spearhead the Philippines’ strategic roadmap for space development and the goal of becoming a space-capable and space-faring nation within the next decade.

KGA