Kenya will start getting real-time data on a range of sectors including agriculture, mineral resources and forest cover from August via its first operational satellite to be launched into space next week.
The satellite dubbed Taifa-1 will be launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday next week, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The vessel will boost Kenya’s efforts of making interventions on food security, mapping out mineral wealth and the changing climatic conditions, and ultimately helping draw more informed policies.
“We are working on the ground receiver which should be completed by July, after which it will be relaying the data,” Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru said on Tuesday.
The satellite has been developed by Kenyan engineers at an estimated cost of Sh50 million. A Bulgarian aerospace firm helped manufacture and test parts of the satellite.
The three-month period to July will be a commissioning stage that involves recalibrating and ensuring that the date and images are top quality, allowing the transmission of reliable information to the ground transmitter from August.
Kenya has been grappling with a severe drought after three years of failed rains bringing to the fore the importance of satellites in getting data for improved decision-making to map out areas suitable for different crops to optimise on the rains.
Ongoing climate change marked by unpredictable rains has increased the vulnerability of countries such as Kenya pointing to yet another critical role for satellite-based data.
