The F-1 satellite, measuring 10x10x10 centimetres, was sent into space on board the HTV-3 cargo spaceship, which carries supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). It also carried four other small satellites from Japan and the United States.

The Japanese cargo freighter is scheduled to dock with the ISS six days after it was launched and the F-1 cubesat is expected to enter orbit and begin its mission in September.

The F-1 cubesat has an expected lifespan of between 100 and 250 days and is equipped with a camera able to capture 640x480 resolution images and transmit data to Earth at the speed of 1,200 bits per second (bps).

Head of the Fspace Laboratory, Vu Trong Thu, was very happy about the event and said that, after four years of research, his dream of exploring the universe has partially come true.

He added that this mission will only be considered a complete success when the F-1 cubesat is put into orbit and begins transmitting signals to the ground control centre.

FPT University Vice President Nguyen Xuan Phong said the F-1 cubesat carries a small Vietnamese flag and a memory card containing the names of over 7,500 people and their messages.

F-1 also contains a spin-dependent tunnelling magnetometer (SDTM) chip used to measure three-dimensional magnetic field vectors. The chip is a result of research by Associate Professor Hugo Nguyen and his colleagues from Uppsala University in Sweden.

Professor Nguyen was emotional when he said: “Our young scientists are fantastic! They have overcome difficulties and made this dream come true.”

Vietnam’s second communications satellite was launched into space aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana last May.