UoN wins bragging rights as Kenya launches first satellite
University of Nairobi (UoN) and University of Rome on Monday launched a satellite into the International Space Station in Florida marking the first Kenyan space exploration. It is also a major win for UoN.
The Cube Satellite was developed by a team from the two universities with Foreign Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma celebrating Kenya’s involvement.
Juma termed the launch as a “milestone in Kenya’s exploration into space.”
The selected team from both institutions was first announced during the TICAD VI, as a beneficially of the first round of the KiboCUBE Programme.
KiboCUBE is an initiative that offers educational and research institutions from developing countries, the opportunity to deploy cube satellites (CubeSats) from the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station (ISS).
DEPLOYMENT
The Kenyan Cube Satellite developed under the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which is Japan’s National Aero-space agency programme was delivered to JAXA on January 16, 2018 in preparation for its deployment into space.
A team from the University of Nairobi, handed over to JAXA the Satellite it had developed known as “First Kenya University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight” (1KUNS-PF) at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Centre.
“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 deployment of the satellite into space will take place in late May, 2018.