Marcos supports development of MULA satellite

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has expressed support for the development of the Multi-spectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) satellite, which will be the largest Filipino-made satellite.

"I am looking forward to the development of our MULA satellite and its subsequent launching sometime in 2025,” Marcos said in his meeting with officials from the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) on Tuesday.

A Palace statement released Wednesday said the satellite would be built by Filipino engineers from the PhilSA. It aims to improve maritime domain awareness as well as 24-hour territorial monitoring and security evaluation.

Malacañang said the MULA satellite could cover 73,000 square kilometers in 24 hours, gathering data on all land, air and sea territory of the Philippines.

It added that once in orbit, MULA can detect air and water quality; determine abundant fishing grounds; zoom-in on traffic situations in cities and urban centers and detect presence of ships in the county’s territorial waters.

In 2021, PhilSA said the satellite would have nine spectral bands that can be used for environmental applications such as land cover change mapping, disaster and forestry management, and crop monitoring.

The satellite's funding is included in the 2023 National Expenditure Program, the Palace said. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News