Work on the Zimbabwe’s first satellite is nearing completion, with its launch scheduled for early 2022.

The ZIMSAT-1 – a 1U (one standard Cubesat unit) educational nanosatellite – is being manufactured under the auspices of the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan.

Space in Africa reports that Zimbabwean engineers will assemble the nanosatellite, and its flight readiness will be reviewed in December this year. It will be launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and later deployed from the International Space Station.

The satellite will host an automatic reporting system, a multispectral camera and on-board image classification, among other features. The satellite images will be used to assess water quality and crop health, according to the International Amateur Radio Union.

ZIMSAT-1 forms part of the Birds-NEST (Network of Educational Satellites)-5 project, the fifth edition of an initiative hosted the Kyushu Institute. The images taken by the satellite, can be downloaded onto smartphones via a mobile app, for further analysis.

21 September 2021
Image: NASA JPL