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Dubai to launch another Dewa nanosatellite this month

Dewa Sat-2 will help the authority improve the operational performance of power generation and water desalination plants

Published: Sat 8 Apr 2023, 5:49 PM

Updated: Sat 8 Apr 2023, 9:36 PM

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Supplied photos

Supplied photos

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has completed preparations to launch its second nanosatellite this April, it was announced on Saturday.

Created for remote sensing application, the 6U nanosatellite is part of Dewa's Space-D programme. Dewa Sat-2 will be blasting off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US.

Designed and developed at the authority's Research and Development Centre, in cooperation with NanoAvionics in Lithuania, the new satellite features a high-resolution camera (4.7 metres) that will be used for Earth observation missions.

The high-resolution camera provides continuous line-scan imaging in 7 spectral bands from approximately 500km orbit. The new satellite is also equipped with Infrared tools to measure greenhouse gases.

Dewa Sat-2 images — when combined witg Internet of Things (IoT) measurements from Dewa Sat-1 — will enable the authority to improve the operational performance of power generation and water desalination plants.

These two nanosatellites will provide accurate estimates of seawater temperature, seawater salinity, detection of red tide, as well as fog monitoring and forecasting.

Dewa launched Dewa Sat-1 in January 2022. It uses LoRa IoT communication technology — a new wireless protocol designed for long-range and low-power communications — to expand the coverage of the existing terrestrial communications network.

Dewa is the first utility in the world to launch nanosatellites to improve its planning, operation, and maintenance activities. Using satellite network communication, IoT and artificial intelligence contributes to improving the efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world, using the Independent Power Producer model.

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