- Tsaone Segaetsho
President Duma Boko is leading a Botswana delegation on a tour of the SpaceX facility in California, United States of America, which will be used for the anticipated satellite BotswanaSat-1 (BOTSAT-1) launch on Wednesday.
The satellite, BOTSAT-1, will be launched by SpaceX, which is the maker of Starship and is known for its International Space Station missions.
BOTSAT-1 has been designed and assembled by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) in collaboration with a Bulgarian company, EnduroSat.
“Technology needs collaboration, especially for those of us who are new in this sector. This kind of technology requires specialised facilities such as clean rooms and model laboratories, which mimic conditions in space. We don’t have such infrastructure and facilities at BIUST. This satellite was designed by our programmers at the local university (BIUST), who were also using software technologies,” said BIUST Vice-Chancellor Otlogetswe Totolo before heading to the US for Wednesday’s launch.
Totolo said they chose SpaceX to launch their satellite due to its capacity and expertise in the field. He also told the media that SpaceX has about 50 satellites alongside BOTSAT-1.
“When the rocket is launched, BOTSAT-1 will be left high up at a distance of 500 km from here, as we will be the ninth to be released from the rocket. It will then start orbiting, move around the planet, and begin signalling and releasing communication with us at the BIUST ground station.
That is where we will start using the space technology of BOTSAT-1,” said Totolo, adding that other satellites would follow.
On Wednesday, BOTSAT-1 will launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-13 mission and is expected to directly benefit local agriculture and mining industries by using its onboard hyperspectral camera payload to provide key intelligence on the composition of ground and soil.
According to experts, BOTSAT-1 will expose Botswana to new space data and BIUST will be able to empower decision-makers with information for long-term planning and investment.
