Zimbabwe is set to launch its first-ever satellite into space on when the ZimSat-1 goes into orbit on Monday, a day after its deployment was aborted due to a technical challenges.
According to state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the satellite was set to be deployed into international space on Sunday through a spacecraft, NG 18 Cygnus, which was scheduled to take off from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Virginia in the United States.
The deployment was, however, postponed due to a fire alarm in some parts of the control building.
The satellite would be used to gather data from ground sensors for both weather and disaster monitoring purposes.
It is expected to, among other things, provide data analysis and prediction of weather, water quality, soil fertility, landslides and drought.
The satellite was built by Zimbabwean engineers working with the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan.
The programme is considered the first baby steps of southern African country’s fledgling space programme, which was launched in 2018 following the launch of the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency.
JN/APA