Global Courant 2023-04-17 14:03:47
Image: REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi
Kenya is the latest African country to reach great heights in the space industry, when it launched its first-ever operational Earth observation satellite.
According to the Kenya Space Agency, the nanosatellite dubbed Taifa-1 is one of several spacecraft carried by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Captain Alloyce Were, an aeronautical engineer and Deputy Director of Navigation and Positioning at the government-run Kenya Space Agency said: “We have overcome the challenges posed by climate change, which the satellite, thanks to its ability to images to be laid (will be able to help monitor.”
“We can track forest changes, we can track changes in urbanization.”
Developed by nine Kenyan engineers, the satellite will collect agricultural and environmental data, including floods, droughts and forest fires.
The space agency said the satellite was put together with the help of Bulgaria’s aerospace company Endurosat, which took two years.
The satellite will operate for five years, which will later become 20 years.
Africa is slowly gaining a foothold and attraction through new technologies, such as SpaceX’s small ride-share program. 52 satellites had been launched by 14 African countries, with Uganda and Zimbabwe sending their satellites in November.
