Senegal makes history by launching its first satellite GAINDESAT-1A from California

ZIMSPHERE

SENEGAL has achieved a major historical feat after it successfully launched its own surveillance and telecommunications satellite called GAINDESAT-1A into orbit, joining an elite list of African countries that have launched their own satellites.

Senegal successfully launches first satellite into space

Image: President Faye/X

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye recently made an announcement of this huge milestone; stating that the surveillance and telecommunications satellite was launched at 6:46 PM GMT on Friday from the United States Vandenberg Air Force base in California. It was launched into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

With this latest development, which Faye described as a signifier of “technological sovereignty,” Senegal joins other African countries that have launched their own surveillance and telecommunications satellites into orbit.

Other African countries which have orbiting satellites include South Africa (with 12), Egypt (10), Morocco (2), Kenya (2), Ethiopia (2), Angola (2)—and the following have one each: Ghana, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda.

“This is the result of five years of hard work by our engineers and technicians, this advancement marks a major step towards our technological sovereignty. I would like to express my pride and gratitude to everyone who made this project possible,” President Faye remarked on his official X account.

Maram Kaïré, director of Senegal's space agency, extolled the launch of the nanosatellite as “an important step and a historic day in our country's progress and determination to become a space-faring nation”.

GAINDESAT-1A was constructed by Senegalese engineers in partnership with Montpellier University Space Centre from France. Its launch had initially been scheduled for July 2024.

The purpose of the satellite will revolve around the collection of data for various state agencies including those dealing with water resources, civil aviation, and meteorology.

This satellite marks the first phase of the Senegalese Space Programme (SENSAT), created to bolster the West African nation's socio-economic development through the means of space technology.

In addition to this, Senegal also made significant progress when it completed a space control centre in Diamniadio in 2023. It partnered with France's CNES and ArianeGroup to bring the centre to fruition.

All in all, this latest development bodes well for Africa's space technology ambitions; setting an admirable precedent that other African countries can emulate.