Kenya has said it would launch its first-ever earth observation satellite this month. The move is being described as a landmark achievement in the country.
Kenya’s space exploration efforts would be taken to new heights when the Nation-1 or Taifa-1 in Swahili, launches next week.
It is expected to be aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The satellite is designed to provide earth observation data for use in agriculture, food security and environmental management.
In a joint statement the defence ministry and Kenya Space Agency, the satellite was “fully designed and developed” by Kenyan engineers in collaboration with a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer.
Kenya is suffering its worst drought in decades after five failed rain seasons and this initiative is seen as an attempt to find solutions.
In 2018, Kenya launched its first experimental nano-satellite from the International Space Station.
In February this year, Kenyan media reported that a Kenyan firm also build a small satellite and had it launched into space from India.
Roughly the size of a quarter of a foolscap, the technological material was part of a satellite assembled in the United States then shipped to India for the launch into space that happened via a rocket that left Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the morning of February 10.
Source: Africafeeds.com
