BIUST connects to space

Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST)’s first satellite has started receiving data from other orbiting satellites in the space. President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced during his State of The Nation Address that Botswana Satellite (BOTSAT1) has started receiving data on weather, water bodies and vegetation.

“The satellite will improve access to information for agriculture, tourism, mining, surface water monitoring, human settlements and town planning and communications,” said Masisi.

Currently the project has embarked on the second phase - BOTSAT CubeSAT to be launched next August.

Masisi said the project demonstrates that the national transformation agenda pulsates with vitality, innovation and relentless commitment to achieving prosperity through Knowledge-Based Economy. “It is the intention of my government to seek partnerships with other nation-states so that we can assist with collecting data for them as well as treating it for use.”

Meanwhile, BIUST is partner host to radioastronomy training facility under the UK-SA Newton Fund. The institution was added to the UK-SA Newton Fund, joining Kenya, Zambia and Namibia to develop researchers in radio astronomy field, ahead of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project. In addition, the building of science and engineering capacity in radio astronomy is part of the international science community efforts to ensure the optimum use of the new observatories deployed through the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (AVN) project. AVN is an array of radio telescopes throughout Africa, an extension of the existing global Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (VLBI), set to modify existing but redundant dishes, previously utilised for satellite telecommunication.