Kenya to launch its first operational satellite, first African nation to do so: Report
- In Reports
- 08:22 PM, Apr 12, 2023
- Myind Staff
Kenya is going to launch its first-ever operational EO 3U nanosatellite, dubbed Taifa-1, into outer space on Wednesday.
Kenya Space Agency acting director general Brig Hillary Kipkosgei says there are two Kenyan satellites launched into space.
But when it comes to the launch of an actual operational satellite, he said Taifa-1 counts as the first, and it was purely developed by Kenyan engineers.
“In terms of capabilities, the first satellite was basically a technology demonstrator to be used to give our engineers confidence and knowledge to understand what are the basic components of a satellite,” Kipkosgei said.
The Star had an exclusive interview with the KSA DG as well as the team of engineers from Sayari Labs who developed Taifa-1.
Sayari Labs is a research and development (R&D) arm of KSA used specifically for projects targeting satellite systems development.
Kipkosgei said the institution was founded to help the nation come up with ways to build on national capabilities in satellites and utilisation of satellites for socioeconomic development.
The success of Taifa-1 is greatly attributed to the team of 11 young engineers with a passion for R&D in space matters from Sayari Labs.
Taifa-1 is an Earth Observation (EO) 3U nanosatellite.
The Star quoted an aerospace engineer saying a 1U satellite is a 10x10x10cm satellite, whereby the U stands for Unit.
“A nanosat is any satellite that weighs 1-10kg. Taifa-1 is, therefore, three units put together to form the 3U nanosatellite. A cubesat is a nanosatellite, but not all nanosatellites are cubesats,” the engineer added.
The mission of Taifa-1 is to take imagery of the Kenyan landscape, and the data recorded will be used for decision support in sectors such as agriculture, food security, general environmental monitory, defence and security.
Image courtesy: Winnie Wanjiku
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