Taifa-1: Why Historic Launch Of Kenya's Satellite Was Delayed For 24 Hours

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) revealed on Tuesday, April 11 that the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, which was to carry Kenya’s first satellite dubbed 'Taifa-1', was postponed by a day.

The American spacecraft manufacturer revealed through the Kenya Space Agency (KSA) that the 24-hour delay pushed the launch date originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 11 to Wednesday, April 12.

SpaceX further explained that this was due to unfavourable upper-level wind conditions that would have affected the rocket's flight trajectory during the launch.

Nanosatellites in space. /GEOSPATIAL WORLD

"This is to inform the Kenyan public that Space X has announced a 24-hour delay for the launch of the Falcon 9 Transporter 7 Mission earlier scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, at 9:44 am.

“This has been occasioned by unfavourable upper-level wind conditions that would affect the rocket’s flight trajectory,” the notice read in part.

The company however noted that its teams were monitoring the weather conditions around its Space Launch Complex 4E in California, USA before clearing for launch. The delay was likely to affect other satellites from other countries scheduled to launch on the same day through the Transporter7 Rideshare Mission.

“The delay affects the anticipated launch of Taifa one satellite alongside other satellites from other countries,” the notice added.

Depending on weather conditions, the new schedule was set for Wednesday, April 12 at 9:44 am.

The Taifa-1 Sat, Kenya’s first operational 3U Earth Observation satellite, was built at the cost of Ksh50 million. During a press briefing on Tuesday, April 4, Defence Principal Secretary (PS) Patrick Mariru stated that its development was done by local engineers from the KSA.

According to him, the development was done locally through the expertise of KSA engineers with its parts sourced externally, factors that attributed to the satellite's cost-effectiveness.

The manufacturing of the parts and their testing was done in collaboration with Endurosat AD, a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer.

With the vast foreseen advantage the satellite will hand to Kenya, PS Mariru noted that the nation will be able to independently access data for decision support to combating climate change and improving agriculture and food security.

"We are shifting and we are focusing on helping our government make decisions based on data for example on afforestation or climate change. We now have our own vessel to collect data.

"We do not need to go to a third party. Now we have our sovereign-owned instruments to be able to make decisions," Mariru added.

It is also the first stepping stone to the development of what is planned to be a constellation of small earth observation satellites for Kenya.

The mission is designed to provide precise and timely earth observation satellite data to stakeholders in the diverse fields of application including agriculture and food security as well as to "develop Kenya's technical capacity on the whole value chain of space technology development and applications." 

Defence Principal Secretary, Patrick Mariru, appearing before the National Assembly Defence, intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee on November 15, 2022. /CAPITAL GROUP