The Filipino government is buying two satellites from U.S.-based Astranis Space Technologies for broadband use. Advanced Television reported the government anticipates the purchase will create 10,000 jobs. The announcement was made last week in San Francisco, where Astranis hosted a meeting with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., President of the Philippines.
“At the event, we announced together that Astranis will dramatically accelerate our partnership with Orbits Corp and bring not one, but two internet satellites to the Philippines: one on Astranis’s next launch, set for Q1 of 2024, and the second on the previously-announced launch to follow later in 2024,” stated Astranis.
President Marcos added that the new satellite will be named “AGILA” after his country’s national bird, the “Great Philippine Eagle.” An official statement from the Philippines stated, “Expanding our Philippines program to include an additional Astranis MicroGEO satellite means that Orbits Corp will be able to double the number of people that it connects in the most remote islands of the Philippines. Millions of people, many of whom live on less than $5,000 per year, will be able to connect to the internet as a direct result.”
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