Edusat-1 satellite goes into orbit today

THE FEDERAL University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) has said that five satellites of the BIRDS-1 Project, including the Nigerian Cubesat, codenamed Nigeria Edusat1, would be released from the International Space Station 1SS KIBO (Japan Cubicle) into the orbit today.

The live event can be viewed via Youtube through https://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=sp5yzi5ushc.

The Nigerian Cubesat is designed, built and owned by FUTA in collaboration with National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja and Kyushu Institute of Technology Japan.

A statement made available to journalists in Akure yesterday by the Head of Information Unit of the institution, Mr. Adebanjo Adegbenro, stated that the project had reached the final stage.

Adegbenro said that with the deployment, the satellites would go round the earth tak- ing images and other critical data, which could be viewed and analysed at the ground stations one of which would be based at the FUTA.

Besides, Mr. Ibukun Adebolu from FUTA’S Department of Mechanical Engineering who is the representative of Nigeria on the project, stated: “Nigeriaedusat-1, along with the four other nanosatellites of the BIRDS constellation will perform three onboard missions.

“First, we aim to take low and high resolution pictures of each home country of the participating members of the constellation. Each satellite is equipped with a 0.3 megapixel camera as well as a 5 megapixel camera.

“We hope to capture distinct features of each target country, including borderline images, major rivers etc. The second mission on board each satellite is aimed at space education and outreach. Popular songs and poems are converted into digital format and uplinked to the satellite.”