MMSAT-1 (also known as Lawkanat-1) was a Burmese

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome. ...

launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on 20 February 2021 and deployed into orbit from the ISS on 22 March 2021. It was Myanmar's first microsatellite and jointly built by Japan's Hokkaido University and Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University. It was delivered to the ISS by the American cargo spacecraft Cygnus NG-15. MMSAT-1 was temporarily held on ISS and its deployment was delayed due to the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then veste ...

. It was deployed into orbit on 22 March 2021. MMSAT-1 was intended to be used not only for environmental observation and mineral exploration, but also for natural disaster control, but human rights activists worried that the satellite could be used for military purposes. According to Hokkaido University, as Myanmar did not yet have the necessary equipment, the satellite would initially be operated from Japan. MMSAT-1 reentered the atmosphere on 4 April 2023.

References

Earth observation satellites Satellites of Myanmar 2021 in Myanmar Spacecraft launched in 2021 Spacecraft which reentered in 2023 Satellites deployed from the International Space Station {{Space-stub