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Former Gold Coast becomes first Sub-Saharan African nation to record feat
By Nsikan Ikpe
Ghana got a boost Friday, in the race to build and launch sub-Saharan Africa’s pioneering satellite when it undertook a successful launch of a satellite built by students of one of its universities.
The launch is however coming rather late in the day as this first national satellite project is coming into fruition exactly sixty years after independence.
This has however not dampened the mood of Ghanaians who eagerly followed the launch of the satellite dubbed Ghansat-1 even as it was released and deployed into orbit at an altitude of 420 km on Friday.
To be sure, this development is coming on the heels of the successful launch on June 10 into the International Space Station (ISS) by SpaceX, Flight 11 from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the United States, sources disclosed to The Difference
The historic event was watched live at All Nations University campus in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, some 85 km east of the capital.
The satellite was built by students of All Nations University.
“The successful launch of the satellite has put Ghana which became independent in 1957, on the international map as the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to launch an academic satellite into space.
“The successful launch also paved way for the country to explore the full benefit of satellite technology,’’ The local media added.
The satellite has cameras on board capable of taking pictures of Ghana and providing data on happenings on Ghana’s coastal areas and the environment.
President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana
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