Kenya Space Agency

KSA (Kenya Space Agency) is mandated to promote, coordinate and regulate space related activities in the country. It was established in 2017 as the successor to the National Space Secretariate (NSS)...[1]

Kenya Space Agency
Agency overview
AbbreviationKSA
Formed2017
TypeSpace agency
HeadquartersPitman House, Jakaya Kikwete Road
MottoPossibilities beyond our skies
Major General
James Aruasa
Websitehttps://ksa.go.ke

History

In 1964, Kenya & Italy collaborated to establish a satellite launching and tracking base in Malindi called Broglio Space Center. From 1967 to 1989 over 20 sounding rockets & 9 rockets were launched from the Broglio Space Center. Until 2009 Kenya didn't have a space programme of its own. That changed with the formal installation of the NSS under the wing of the Ministry for Defence (Kenya).[2]

Satellites launched

While there have been many launches by the Italian Space Agency using the Broglio Space Center until 1989, KSA launched its own satellites much later.

1KUNS-PF

The 1KUNS-PF is a CubeSat and was the first Kenyan-owned satellite to be launched into space in 2018.[3]

TAIFA-1

The TAIFA-1 satellite is an earth observation 3U CubeSat, was launched on 14 April 2022 [4] together with Exolaunch aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 . It is the first satellite launched by KSA that was purely developed by Kenyan engineers with training provided by EnduroSat[5][6]

The word "taifa" is Swahili meaning "one nation"[7]

References
  1. "About | Kenya Space Agency". ksa.go.ke. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  2. "National Space Secretariat – Ministry of Defence – Kenya". mod.go.ke. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  3. "History as Kenya launches first operational satellite". The Star. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  4. "Kenya Space Agency Taifa 1 | Kenya Space Agency". www.ksa.go.ke. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  5. "TAIFA-1 – First Kenyan software-defined NanoSat". CubeSat by EnduroSat. 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  6. "Kenya launches first operational satellite into space". Reuters. 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  7. "TAIFA-1 Launch | Kenya Space Agency". www.ksa.go.ke. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
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