Proyecto Irazú-Jonathan Bonilla
The first Costa Rican satellite is very different.
It is only a small cube of 10x10x10 centimeters with metallic edges that can be held in one hand.
The nanosatellite, known as the Irazú Project, has dozens of high-caliber Costa Rican engineers and professionals focused on an ambitious goal: to put the first 100% Costa Rican satellite into orbit.
The project manager, Luis Diego Monge, expressed that the nanosatellite will reach orbit through the International Space Station (ISS). They will take advantage of the fact that it is very small and it can be included in one of the cargo missions that are regularly sent to the ISS.
Once in space, two astronauts -possibly Japanese- will put it into orbit.
A robotic arm takes the nanosatellite and with the help of several calibrated springs, the satellite will be launched into orbit,”
explained Monge.
With an investment of almost to 2 million dollars, the mission of the nanosatellite is to collect data from the sensors installed in the trees of a forest in Los Chiles to measure carbon dioxide, in order to know how close Costa Rica is of becoming a carbon neutral country by 2021.