he Dec 16 launch comes four years after the Republic put its first home-grown micro-satellite in space. Since the launch of the fridge-size X-Sat in 2011, smaller satellites have subsequently been launched by Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
This time round, the satellites are being built from scratch by teams from defence manufacturer Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics), National University of Singapore and NTU.
The biggest is the 400kg TeLEOS-1 - the first Singapore-made commercial earth observation satellite to orbit in space, said ST Electronics communication and sensor systems group president Tang Kum Chuen. The satellite will carry a camera that can take pictures at ground resolution of up to 1m.