COLOMBO (News 1st) –  ‘Raavana 1’ was launched into space early this morning (April 18), marking Sri Lanka’s entry into the global space age.

The satellite, designed and developed by two Sri Lankan engineers, will be shuttled to the International Space Station. The “Raavana 1” was launched into space with the assistance of the US rocket “Antares” from the mid-Atlantic space station in Virginia.

The cube-sized model satellite was built by Sri Lanka’s Tharindu Dayarathna and Dulani Chamika Vithanage who were scholars of the Peradeniya University’s Engineering Faculty and the Asian Institute of Technology respectively. They were able to launch this satellite while they were studying space engineering at Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan.

The satellite was launched at 2.16 am and scheduled to reach the International Space Station by 6.30 pm (local time).

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