Kenya is ready to send its first satellite into orbit in
collaboration with Sapienza University.
The 1Kuns Satellite, which stands for “First Kenyan University
Satellite” will be built by a team of university students from Nairobi
University and Sapienza University in Rome with the support of the Italian
Space Agency. The CubeSat is a small cubic satellite that should be completed
in 2017 and will be used to observe the Earth.
The satellite will be assembled by students of the International
Master Course in Space Mission Design and Management organized by the
Astronautics, Electrical and Energetics Engineering Department at Sapienza
University in collaboration with the University of Nairobi.
Mwanghi Mbuthia, the scientific representative of the
Engineering School of Nairobi University visited Rome on December 6 and illustrate the project
and meet with the Project Scientific Manager, Fabrizio Piergentili from the
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Fabio Santoni, Master
Course Director from the Department of Astronautics, Electrical and Energetics
Engineering.
The idea developed as part of the Ikuns contract, which was
already part of a Sapienza-ASI Agreement for the management and development of
research activities at the Sapienza Broglio Space Center managed by ASI in
Malindi, Kenya. The project brings together both scientific and technological
objectives and promises to have a great educational impact.
The 1Kuns Satellite is an extraordinary goal for a developing
country such as Kenya and a unique opportunity for students at the two
universities, who will be able to work in a stimulating international
environment. The competitive character of the Italo-Kenyan university team and
the value of its work has been rewarded when the 1Kuns-KenyaSat Mission was
selected by UNOOSA – Spatial Affairs Office of the UN and JAXA – the Japanese Spatial
Agency, selected it to be launched into orbit on board of the Japanese KIBO
module on the International Space Station.
The official announcement of the first Kenyan CubeSat was held
at the “UN-IAF Workshop on Space Technology for Socio-Economic Benefits,”
organized in September by the United Nations in Guadalajara, Mexico.
