Kenya is set to launch Taifa 1 satellite on Tuesday. The satellite will be deployed to the space with the help of Space X rockets based in the United States. It will be deployed to the space among other ten satellites from other institutions.
The Taifa 1 satellite is not the first satellite Kenya is sending to the space. In 2018, Kenya had deployed another satellite, but it did not manage what it was intended for. It however acted as a building block to the Taifa 1 Satellite.
Taifa 1 Satellite weighs slightly below 10 Kilograms and it is fitted with modern technology components. It is also fitted with a multispectral and panchromatic camera that can detect vegetation and earth components as small as 16 meters.
The satellite will be deployed to a region called Sun Synchronous obit where the sun never sets. The all through availability of the sun in the region where Taifa 1 will be deployed will enable it to always capture solar energy for its operations.
It is estimated that the satellite will fly over Kenya for seven minutes once every four days. Through the seven minutes it will be flying over Kenya, data captured by the satellite will be downloaded in a facility which is currently being set up at Kasarani.
Data captured will be used by agriculture experts to predict crop yields and to analyze vegetation to determine how crops and fairing. Agriculture experts will also use the data to compare crop yields between different regions in the country and this will be big boost to efforts being put in place to make Kenya a food secure country.
Conservationists, ecologists and Kenya forestry can also use Taifa 1 data to analyze the situation of various forests across the country. The analyzed data will enable them to respond promptly in case cases of deforestation are spotted.
