Successfully launched Make in Vietnam private satellite

Share with VnExpress On April 3, a business representative said that VEGAFLY-1 belongs to the small satellite (microsat) line, a product developed by Vegacosmos’ engineering team for two years.

The VEGAFLY-1 satellite was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket, on the “Transporter-16” mission operated by SpaceX, from Vandenberg Space Force Base (USA).

Immediately after separating from the rocket, the satellite sent out its first signal and was received at the ground station in Slovenia. At 1:58 a.m., the station in Hanoi made the first communication session with the satellite, lasting about 7 minutes. Satellites can now send and receive signals to the ground and take images at a certain level of resolution.

This is Vegacosmos’ first satellite. The project is implemented by a group of about 10 engineers, the development cost is not too large. The entire design and manufacturing process is carried out in Hanoi. Once completed, the satellite is brought to the US to use commercial launch services.

According to the business, Vegacosmos has mastered the design and assembly of satellites, while components still have to be imported. After VEGAFLY-1, the company plans to develop a second satellite with about 8 times larger size, integrating more features and aiming to provide services.

Vegacosmos is a space technology company belonging to Vega Star Technology Group, operating in the fields of satellites, geospatial data, artificial intelligence and system integration. The enterprise currently has 15 intellectual property certificates, patents and useful solutions.

Satellites are part of the remote sensing infrastructure, serving applications such as environmental monitoring, natural disaster warning, infrastructure planning or security and defense support. Data collected from space can be processed into information for socio-economic development.

Vietnam’s space technology industry is still young but has made progress over the years. Previously, satellites such as Vinasat-1 (2008), Vinasat-2 (2012) or VNREDSat-1 (2013) were put into operation, mainly in the form of ordering foreign production.

Since 2013, Vietnam has begun to design and manufacture micro-satellites such as PicoDragon, MicroDragon, NanoDragon and recently LOTUSat-1, thereby gradually accumulating technological capacity.

In recent years, a number of domestic enterprises have also begun to participate in this field, mainly in the fields of map data, remote sensing images, unmanned aerial vehicles and low-orbit satellite testing. In the private sector, a notable project is the F-1 satellite developed by the FSpace Space Research Laboratory (FPT University), launched in 2012 by a Japanese rocket.

According to Decision 1131 issued in June 2025, aerospace technology is in 11 strategic technology groups. The participation of private enterprises in designing, manufacturing and operating satellites shows the trend of expanding the role of this sector in high-tech fields.