- 1378 views
A first ever Kenyan-made Satellite, a Cube Satellite, has been launched into the International Space Station (ISS). The Cubsat, as it is commonly referred was launched into space on Monday at 16:30 hrs (Eastern USA local time), with Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma terming it a major milestone in the country's exploration program.
A team drawn from the University of Nairobi (UON) partnered with another from the University of Rome to develop the Cube Satellite. The selected team was first named during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VI, as a beneficially of the first round of the KiboCUBE Programme.
KiboCUBE is an programme that offers educational and research institutions in third-world nations the opportunity to deploy cube satellites (CubeSats) from the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station (ISS).
The Kenyan Cube Satellite was developed under the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The satellite dubbed “First Kenya University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight” (1KUNS-PF) was handed over to JAXA at its Tsukuba Space Centre in January ahead of its launch into space.
“Kenya is very proud to be associated and involved through TICAD VI in the development of the Satellite. we hope this is only a beginning of many collaborations and initiatives for Kenya under the KiboCUBE programme,” CS Monica Said.
The satellite was launched from an International Space Station in Florida, United States.