NASRDA launches new satellite June

NASRDA launches new satellite June

• Agency Report

The National Space Research and Development Agency says it is putting modalities in place to launch a Cubesat ‘Edusat-2’ within the first half of the year, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The Acting Director-General of NASRDA, Dr Francis Chizea, said this at the ongoing Science and Technology Expo on Tuesday in Abuja, where the agency showcased its research works and achievements.

Chizea explained that EduSat-2 was a build-up on EduSat-1 which the agency built in collaboration with Federal University of Technology, Akure and Japanese Birds-1 programme launched in 2017.

A CubeSat is a type of very small satellite which is based on a standardised unit of mass and volume. It can be used alone or stacked to suit the needs of a specific mission.

He said that the agency was working in line with the National Space Policy and Programme of 2001 and the Federal Government-approved 25 years’ roadmap for the agency in 2007.

He said that the CubeSat was in line with the agency’s mandate which included building indigenous satellites, launching a Nigerian astronaut into space, build and launch Nigerian made satellite in space.

Chizea said, “EduSat-2 was developed by NASRDA engineers, an earth observation satellite with minimal resolution and we are expecting to launch it in June or July from the International Space Station.

Dr Francis Chizea

“We are already talking with the committee on the Peaceful Use of the Outer Space to help us secure launch facilities on one of the member countries, who have the facilities to provide for us.

“The satellite is one of its kind to be made by Nigeria and the only thing we can do now is to develop on that.

“The major thing the satellite will address is technology demonstration, to show that we can do it by ourselves, we want to show that it can work,” he said.

According to him, Cube Satellites are cheap to build; you can have a constellation of like 20 of them at low cost and in no time.

He added that the CubeSat cost less than N20m to build.