Senegal achieved a historic milestone on Friday evening with the successful launch of its first satellite from California.
The country is now among the 12 African nations that have their own surveillance and telecommunications satellites in space.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye hailed the launch as a significant step toward Senegal’s “technological sovereignty.” In a statement on X, he expressed his pride and gratitude to those who made the project possible.
Maram Kaïré, director of Senegal’s space agency, called the launch “an important step and a historic day in our country’s progress and determination to become a space-faring nation.”
The satellite, named GAINDESAT-1A, was developed by Senegalese engineers in collaboration with France’s Montpellier University Space Centre.
GAINDESAT-1A was launched into orbit alongside 115 other satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellite will be utilized to gather data for various state agencies, including those responsible for water resources, civil aviation, and meteorology.
