Kenya will launch its first satellite from the United States on April 10, thanks to a partnership with the American company SpaceX. Taifa-1, the satellite "designed and developed by a team of Kenyan researchers," will be launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US, on board a SpaceX rocket.
The mission of the spacecraft will be to provide data in the "areas of agriculture, food security, natural resource and disaster management, and environmental monitoring.” Kenyan authorities have mentioned possible uses for predicting drought-related disasters and thus speeding up the response of emergency programs. The country has been affected by a historic drought for several weeks.
By launching Taifa-1, Kenya enters a very close circle of African countries with a satellite. After the Egyptian pioneer, a dozen African countries also own more than 40 satellites in total, according to the Space in Africa platform.
