There is a satellite that will be used to observe land conditions in Uganda.
Bonny OmaraThe lead engineer on the satellite development team was emotional when Uganda's first satellite was launched.
He says he was watching it with his minister. We hugged each other. It's a great feeling to see my baby leave the ground and head for the space station.
The satellite was launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket carried Zimbabwe's first satellite.
Both satellites were developed in collaboration with the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan. To have a team of engineers and great men working together towards a common goal is something that I feel really great to work with.
More and more African countries are building up their space technology capabilities. A total of 52 satellites have been launched by 14 African countries.
Depending on the environment, the satellites will be deployed over the next few weeks.
The two countries hope the data collected by the satellites will improve life on the ground
Satellite technology is used in many of the modern devices we use.
Uganda has a small satellite. It will be possible to transmit data that will help the people of Uganda.
Bonny OmaraThe founder of SpaceHubs Africa says that space technologies are the core of the modern economy. Sometimes you don't know you're using them. For example, if you're using the internet, you can use satellite services.
The satellites were not developed by SpaceHubs Africa.
Uganda and Zimbabwe won't be offering wireless services to the public. They have been developed for the purpose of observing the earth.
The satellites have cameras that allow them to take pictures of the Earth. A multispectral camera can take pictures of light that isn't visible to the eye.
Data that can help determine the health of land for the agricultural sector is provided by this. The multispectral camera will be used to analyze water quality, land use cover, and soil fertility. Information will be given to citizens so that they can make the best use of the natural resources in their country.
Even more can be done with the satellites. According to Sumah, one of the main purposes of the satellite was to watch illegal mining in the north of the country.
All of those capabilities can be achieved by a satellite that only measures 10 cm in each direction. The low cost and small size of the CubeSats makes them perfect for developing space technology sectors. Don't be deceived by their size. CubeSats can still pack a big punch, even though they're small.
There is a downside to cubeSats. Their lifetime of operation is less than two years. Unless Uganda and Zimbabwe commit to building and launching more of these satellites, the benefits won't last.
The satellites launched by Uganda and Zimbabwe will not be the last. Ethiopia is hoping to launch a new satellite in the next year, as well as Nigeria and Ghana.
Despite plans for future launches by African nations, Sumah is hesitant to say that bigger things are on the way. "I'm hoping that these are not just one-off events that are just used for PR, but that there's a sustained momentum that leads the charge for Africa to really maximize the use of these new technologies," he says.
The country's first satellite was launched by three Ugandan engineers.
Bonny OmaraOne thing will help make sure this new venture into space is sustainable. He says that a couple of countries have launched their first satellite by paying money to other institutions. Three engineers who are fully grounded in the process of developing satellites are in Uganda.
There's still more political and social investment needed before space technologies in Africa can fully mature, even though the human capital is there to provide sustainable development of satellites.
He says we are still limping in the field of science and technology. It's because we don't believe in ourselves. I always tell everyone that we have everything we need to succeed. We need to believe in ourselves.
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