Kenya sends the first Earth observation satellite into space

The African country’s Taifa-1 satellite was aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off from Space Force Base Vandenberg, California.

The launch of the missile had to be postponed twice, earlier this week, due to bad weather.

The Kenyan satellite will pass over the country once every four days and will collect data for agriculture, land conservation and environmental protection for the Kenya Space Agency.

The first data the satellite will collect will be available in the coming months; The country has already appointed a team of professionals to analyze it.

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The data will be provided free of charge to government agencies, while private companies will be able to obtain it at a reasonable cost.

The satellite was designed in Kenya, but manufactured at Endurosat in Bulgaria at a cost of Ksh50 million ($510,000 Canadian).

In Kenya, people were very happy to see the Falcon 9 rocket take off. Some people even spoke of a “national pride” moment.

The country has already launched an experimental nanosatellite from the International Space Station in 2018.

By the end of 2022, 14 African countries have launched a total of 52 satellites into space, according to Space Hubs Africa.