As one of the resourceful west African countries, Ghana has taken a giant step to explore space technology. However, this great space technology is the country’s first satellite, GhanaSat 1, which was reported to have been developed by Ghanaian students. This achievement is set to be launched into space soon.
It has been reported that the satellite will first be launched to the International Space Station by Space X CRS-11 Cargo Mission and later deployed by a Japanese astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Also, the satellite was handed over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Ghana Sat1 was confirmed ready for use after the satellite had gone through a rigorous safety review and flight fittest in February this year.
The successful launch of the Cubesat, which weighs 1,000 grams, is expected to make the dream of Ghana becoming a space-faring nation a reality and also boost the country’s capacity to take advantage of space science technology in the future. This will in return be beneficial to Ghanaians.
In addition, reports confirm that the Cubesat, described as the first university satellite in sub-Saharan Africa, has low and high resolution cameras on board to take pictures of the country and provide data that can be used to monitor the coastal areas of Ghana. It also has Digi-Singer SNG mission from which the national anthem and other independence songs can be broadcast from space, as well as collect requested songs from the ground and send to the satellite to broadcast in space.
Further more, one of the aims of this space technology is to stimulate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in high schools and tertiary institutions.
It was also confirmed that the technology was carried out entirely by three young engineering graduates of the ANUC who designed, assembled and tested the satellite when they joined the Birds project implemented by Kyutech for other four nations aspiring to be space-faring. The trio, led by Benjamin Bonsu, a PhD student in Applied Science for System Engineering, Joseph Quansah and Ernest Teye Matey, executed the project under the supervision of Professor Mengu Cho, the Director of Laboratory of Spacecraft Environment Interaction Engineering (LaSEINE) and other faculty members of Kyutech.
Explaining more on the project, the President of the ANUC, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, said it is really important for every nation to explore space science as it will aid economic growth and development:
“When ANUC realised that space science was something that could help move Ghana’s development forward we decided to invest over $500,000 in research in this area, starting with the development and successful launch of our Cansat in May 2013 and building a ground station a year later.”
He added:
“As part of our commitment, we sponsored three young graduates to further their studies in space science technology and satellite development when they joined the Birds project that offered them the opportunity to design and build the Ghanasat-1 in two years.”
In response to this development, the president of Ghana is really excited and has requested to communicate with the three Ghanaian students–Mr Benjamin Bonsu, Mr Ernest Matey and Mr Joseph Quansah, during the release of the satellite:
“ Such an interactions we believe will help to add much gravitas to the event and serve to convey to your students engineers our immense national pride and esteem in which they are held,” the letter from the Presidency signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, stated.
