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Vatican satellite carrying nanobook with words of Pope successfully launches into space

Vatican City, Jun 13 (EFE).- The Vatican has successfully launched a satellite equipped with a nanobook containing a tiny version of the celebrated prayer on hope and brotherhood by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square in 2020, the Holy See reported Tuesday.

The satellite, which is part of the Vatican space mission called “Spei Satelles” (Satellites of Hope), was sent to space on Monday from Vandenberg Base, California (USA), aboard the rocket “Falcon9.”

The digital nanobook has a dimension of 2x2x0.2 millimeter, containing the images and address of the Pope on Mar.27, 2020 amid the pandemic, and was created by Italy’s National Research Center.

The Vatican explained that the launch of the nanobook into space aimed to serve as a symbol of hope and a sign of peace in times of war.

The project was coordinated by the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency and Polytechnic University of Turin.

The satellite, named CubeSat 3U and weighing less than three kilograms, was blessed by Pope Francis on Mar.29 and is to be put into orbit about 525 kilometers away from the Earth’s surface.

The satellite also has a radio transmission system that will reproduce messages about hope in a radio band and frequency accessible around the world. EFE

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