Chargé d’affaires Indhira C. Bañares received Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) Deputy Director General Gay Jane P. Perez, Ph.D., together with NASA Senior Scientist Josefino C. Comiso, Ph.D., at the Embassy of the Philippines in Prague on 19 September 2022.

During their meeting, CDA Bañares and Dr. Perez discussed ongoing and future programs and activities of PhilSA and plans for cooperation between the Philippines and the Czech Republic in the field of space science and technology.

Moreover, Dr. Perez presented to CDA Bañares a model of Diwata-2, PH’s second 50-kg earth observation satellite that launched into orbit on 29 October 2018, and a photo of APO Reef, the largest contiguous reef system in the Phillippines, which was taken using the High Precision Telescope of Diwata-2. The said satellite’s mission involves environmental and resource monitoring and disaster response and management.

Dr. Perez, who was elected as President of the Technical Commission on Education and Outreach of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) in Niece, France in June 2022, was in Prague from 15 to 20 September 2022 to attend the First Joint Council and Presidents’ Meeting of the ISPRS.

The PhilSA was established by virtue of Republic Act 11363, An Act Establishing the Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy and Creating the Philippine Space Agency, and For Other Purposes, that was signed into law by then President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and took effect on 03 September 2019.

For more information on PhilSA, visit www.philsa.gov.ph. END.