The ceremony to launch the Uganda satellite will be aired live on UBC TV. It should be recalled that Uganda in April 2020 took significant steps towards creating an indigenous space program by sending three engineers: Edgar Mujuni, Derick Tebusweke and Bonny Omara.
These were to obtain training in satellite design, build, test, launch, and operation as part of the BIRDS-5 project, led by Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan. And on 10th May 2022, a satellite built by the Ugandan engineers, named PearlAfricaSat-1, was handed over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for final testing.
The Uganda satellite successfully completed all tests and was subsequently handed over to the United States of America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for launch and deployment. The launch to the International Space Station was therefore to take place on Sunday, 6th November 2022 at 12 noon East African time. However according to the new information, the launch was rescheduled to take place on 7th Nov, 2022 due to the fire alarm before the launch process. see statement here
The satellite was to subsequently be deployed into low earth orbit in December 2022. Uganda is also setting up an earth Station at Mpoma, Mukono for command control and management of the Ugandan satellite in the country by Ugandans.
PearlAfricaSat-1 has a multispectral camera payload which will provide research and observation high resolution image data to support weather forecasting; land, water and mineral mapping; agriculture monitoring; infrastructure planning; border security and disaster prevention.
With our own data analysis and prediction of weather, water quality and soil fertility, landslides and drought will be more efficient. The satellite will also play a vital role in planning, resource management and environmental impact assessment in our oil and gas industry.
