By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 24: Sarawakian Dato Stanley Ling Tiung Leng, founder and chairman of local space technology company TerraXpace Sdn Bhd, has made history for Malaysia with the nation’s first successful launch of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, marking a major leap forward in the country’s space ambitions.
The TerraX-1 (AIRSAT-03) satellite was launched aboard China’s Kinetica-1 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on Oct 19, 2025, at 11.33am (Malaysia time).
The milestone, achieved just one month after the signing between TerraXpace and AirSat of China on Sept 17, has drawn praise from Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.
“It’s a Sarawakian behind this milestone for the space industry. Heartiest congratulations to fellow Sarawakian Dato Stanley Ling Tiung Leng, founder and chairman of TerraXpace, for the successful launch of TerraX-1 (AIRSAT-03), Malaysia’s first Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, a great advancement in Malaysia’s space journey,” Dr Sim said in a post shared on his social media late Thursday (Oct 23).
He lauded the “truly unprecedented speed of achievement” in bringing the project from agreement to launch within barely a month, describing it as a reflection of Sarawakian excellence and innovation on a global scale.
According to NST, the TerraX-1 marks a significant technological milestone for Malaysia, as the SAR satellite is capable of capturing high-resolution images of Earth’s surface both day and night, even through clouds and adverse weather conditions. This allows for consistent and precise Earth observation data critical for a wide range of applications.
According to TerraXpace, the imagery and data generated by TerraX-1 will bolster Malaysia’s capabilities in disaster response, agricultural monitoring, environmental protection, coastal and maritime surveillance, and infrastructure planning, strengthening the nation’s capacity for data-driven decision-making and sustainable development.
“The launch is a proud achievement for TerraX and for Malaysia,” said Ling, who witnessed the historic event alongside his leadership team, executive director Sylvester Wong, chief executive officer Maggie See, chief technology officer Dr VC Koo, and director of remote sensing innovation Dr YK Chan.
“TerraX-1 reflects our commitment to drive innovation and position Malaysia as an emerging player in the space economy,” Ling added.
TerraXpace said it plans to further expand its satellite programme and build an integrated regional data platform to serve both public and private sectors across Asia, solidifying Malaysia’s growing footprint in the global space industry. — DayakDaily
