It has been widely viewed as a historic achievement as Senegal joins an elite group of African countries operating a satellite in space.
It is a first for the West African nation, the eleventh country on the continent to do so.
The others are Ethiopia, Angola, Kenya, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeri, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.
Designed and built by Senegalese engineers and technicians working on the SENSAT SÉNÉGAL project, in collaboration with the Montpellier University Space Center (CSUM) in France, GAINDESAT1A’s mission is to “collect and transmit environmental data.”
The launch date will be announced in the coming days.
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