Engineer for the Philippine Space Agency Julie Ann Banatao dreams of a sustainable space industry in the Philippines
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When the satellite first entered space in 2016, Julie Ann Banatao was among those who witnessed the historic launch. It was a moment that rekindled a childhood fascination. After getting her undergraduate degree in 2010, Banatao spent five years working in the private sector, doing mostly code work, which she enjoyed despite not being space-related. Kapag sinabing, ‘O, mag- ka.’ Parang, ha? na ba?
But Banatao admitted that she was nervous at first while in Japan, even doubting her decision to join the program, where she had to do things she had never done before. Diwata-2 was not entirely built in Japan. It had additional payloads made by engineers in the Philippines — the amateur radio unit and the extended altitude control unit — sent to Japan after completion.
Banatao and her colleagues built Diwata-2 for two years. In 2018, the satellite was finally launched into space from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The program was called STAMINA4Space, short for Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement. After Banatao returned to the Philippines in 2020, STAMINA4Space made her the new team’s tech lead.
Last February, for instance, maps generated by PhilSA using satellite data were used in rescue operations after a landslidearound a hundred residents and miners in Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro. Rescuers used two satellite images of the area — one before and another after the landslide — and put them on top of each other to determine which areas had buildings where survivors might still be trapped.
In a heartbeat, she would choose being an engineer over being a manager. But “part of the job” now is leading the project and teaching fellow engineers, especially since the Philippine space industry is in its early stages, with the PhilSA created only in 2019 and operational in 2020. ,” Banatao said.
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