Ghana’s first satellite has been launched into space

Ghana entered the space race last Friday, sending it’s first satellite into space. Doing so, the country becomes the first Sub-Saharan country to launch satellite into Orbit.

The satellite called Ghanasat-1 was released from the International Space Station on July 7 2017, nearly a month after its launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Elon Musk’s SpaceX flight 1. This has put Ghana on the International Map as the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to launch academic satellite into space.

GhanaSat-1, was built by aerospace Engineers: Ernest Matey, Benjamin Bonsu and Joseph Quansah, students at All Nations University in Koforidua (Ghana), and sent into orbit from the International Space Station.

The satellite has low and high resolution cameras onboard, capable of taking pictures of Ghana and provide data on Ghana’s coastal areas. It’s a two year project, costing $500,000 (£400,000), which received support from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It will be used to monitor Ghana’s coastline for mapping purposes, and to build capacity in space science and technology.

Ghanasat-1 paves way not only for Ghana, but also for Africa, to explore the full benefit of satellite technology. It represents huge opportunities for upcoming generations !

 

Source: BBC News & Telesur TV