Launch of Kenya’s First Satellite Delayed Due to Bad Weather in California

Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has delayed the much-anticipated launch of Kenya’s first earth observation satellite by 24 hours due to unfavorable weather conditions at the launch base in California, USA.

The satellite named Taifa-1 was set to be deployed aboard a Falcon 9 rocket alongside other satellites from other countries.

Kenya Space Agency in a statement on Tuesday said the delay was due to “unfavorable upper-level wind conditions” that would “affect the rocket’s flight trajectory”.

 “There is also the risk of the rocket falling back and causing death in case it lands in an area that is highly populated,” said Kenya Space Agency Engineer Pattern Odhiambo.

The launch is now expected to take place on Wednesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9.44 am Kenyan time.

The main mission of the satellite is to provide data for use in agriculture, food security, land management, and environmental monitoring.

“The local farmers will benefit from the satellite launch as data collected will be specific when planting season comes,” Odhiambo added.

Taifa-1 was fully designed and developed by a team of Kenyan engineers with testing done in collaboration with a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer.

Kenya sent its first experimental nano-satellite from the International Space Station in 2018 in collaboration with Japan. It was built by students from the University of Nairobi.

Egypt was the first African country to send a satellite into space in 1998.