Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, disclosed that ZIMSAT-2 would be a communication satellite that will improve the country’s digital transformation.
Building on the success of Zimbabwe’s first satellite mission, the ZIMSAT-1, the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) has confirmed that preliminary work, including satellite mission development, has been greenlighted by the President. In addition, the national Treasury has reportedly set aside USD 300 million for the project in the next year’s budget.
This follows the deployment of Zimbabwe’s first satellite, ZIMSAT-1, into orbit from the Japanese Kibo module on the International Space Station (ISS), on December 2, 2022, from the International Space Station, where it arrived in November.
Commenting on the proposed satellite project details, the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, disclosed that ZIMSAT-2 would be a communication satellite that will improve the country’s digital transformation.
ZIMSAT-1 was a 1U educational and amateur radio mission CubeSat designed and assembled by three Zimbabwean scientists who were supported and trained in Japan under the fifth Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite (BIRDS-5) constellation. In a presentation during an event to mark the deployment of ZIMSAT-1 in Japan, Mr Victor Mukungunugwa, who was part of the BIRDS-5 team behind the development of the satellite, said the satellite is capable of estimating crop harvest and health.
The government-funded mission consist of ZIMSAT-1 two cubesats from Japan and Uganda, each embarking three multi-spectral cameras. The ground resolution will be less than 100m. Ground sensor terminals are used in addition, to monitor floods in remote areas and transmit that data to the satellite, for relay back to the space agency, the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA).
The Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) is a wholly owned Government of Zimbabwe entity, established under the Research act . ZINGSA Agency is mandated to promote peaceful use of space to develop initiatives that promote advances in Geospatial Science and Earth Observation, Space Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Space Science, Satellite Communication Systems and Global Navigation Satellite Systems.
Originally published at Space In Africa