The launch of SupremeSAT, which was a project mooted by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s youngest son Rohitha Rajapaksa, has become a much-discussed topic following the successful launch of India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.

The funds used in the SupremeSAT project were discussed even in Parliament during the last sessions.

However, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, who is also Rohitha’s eldest brother, has said that State funds were not used in the SupremeSAT project.

“The rocket was sent by my brother as a private sector project. If there is Government investment in it, it should be brought before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE). But we cannot question an investment made by a private businessman. If Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa wants to inquire about the investment, that is up to him and that is his vision. He can investigate the incident and bring it up before COPE if there is Government investment. These statements are limited to mud-sliding in political environments and we cannot develop the economy with this mud-sliding,” Namal had said during a meeting of SLPP members recently.

The Government recently stated that it was clueless about the fate of SupremeSAT, which was reportedly launched in November 2012 as Sri Lanka’s first communications satellite.

Leader of the House Minister Susil Premajayantha had told Parliament recently that if the satellite had been launched in 2012, it should have returned by now. Premajayantha, responding to a question posed by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament, had said that he was not aware about the status of SupremeSAT.

Premadasa had noted that while India had spent only $ 263 million for three attempts to launch the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, Sri Lanka had spent $ 320 million for the launch of SupremeSAT in 2012.

SupremeSAT – 1 was launched on board China’s Long March 3B/E launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It was reported at the time that SupremeSAT – 1 was built by Thales Alenia Space of France and had a design life of 15 years.