Kenya to launch first operational satellite next week

Kenya’s Defense Ministry and the country’s Space Agency announced Monday the launching on April 10 from California (U.S.) Taifa-1, or Nation-1 in Swahili, the eastern African country’s first operational satellite.

“The mission is an important milestone,” the ministry and the agency said in a joint statement, adding that it would contribute significantly to the country’s “budding space economy.”

The satellite will be launched onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The statement indicated that the satellite is “fully designed and developed” by Kenyan engineers and will be used to provide data on agriculture and food security, among other areas.

Testing and manufacturing of the parts were done in collaboration with a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer, the statement added.

Kenya is suffering its worst drought in decades after five failed rain seasons.
The country in 2018 launched its first experimental nano-satellite from the International Space Station.