Botswana gears up for first-ever satellite launch

PALAPYE: Botswana’s highly anticipated inaugural satellite BotswanaSat-1 (BOTSAT-1) will be launched by billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. Musk is also the founder of Tesla (manufacturer of electric cars) and most recently acquired Twitter and rebranded it to X.

SpaceX, which will launch BOTSAT-1, is the maker of Starship and known for its International Space Station missions. BOTSAT-1 is designed and assembled by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). Government recently revealed that it has spent P8 million in the first phase of the Botswana satellite project with more expected to be pumped in until its completion in January 2027.

With many Batswana hoping to see the launch occurring right before them, they will not get that opportunity because the launch will be in Florida, US at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This week, BIUST Vice Chancellor Professor Otlogetswe Totolo highlighted competency as the main reason for launching SpaceX in Florida. “Upon the completion of BOTSAT-1, which we expect to be around August, we will now take it to SpaceX beyond the red lines because we are very sceptical that we should not take our satellite to any launcher that may just explode it,” Prof Totolo revealed.

Totolo stated that SpaceX has a good track record of satellite launches into space compared to other space companies hence BIUST’s decision. “We are choosing SpaceX because it is the most reliable because these things are so prone to exploding and SpaceX is time tested and there are some places we can take our satellites that are not time tested, plus everyone pays SpaceX,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, the project leader of BOTSAT-1 Dr Dimane Mpoeleng, revealed that SpaceX will not only launch the satellite but will also take it through rigorous testing to ensure that it has passed all the red flags. “Our BOTSAT-1 is at 50% completion now and we are currently negotiating with SpaceX on how and when they will launch the satellite but before they do that, they will also laboriously test it and make sure that it does not explode at all,” Mpoeleng said.

The project leader revealed that for the services of launching the satellite, the institution will cough out over P1 million to SpaceX. “We will pay around P2 million to SpaceX and this will be from the P33 000 000, which will respectively be put into this project every year until 2027 after the completion of BOTSAT-2,” he revealed. Mpoeleng further revealed that the project will benefit many Batswana immensely though some people do not see it. “Currently, our license for this satellite has only three uses and it will be used in agriculture, environment, and tourism. So, this project will really be good and we are going to see where grazing is, your yield, the water management environment because of the data that we will be gaining from our own satellite,” Mpoeleng stated.

He added that this project will enhance Botswana’s cutting-edge technology and innovation industries. Putting things into perspective into how the BOTSAT-1 satellite would orbit like in space, he said it will orbit six times a day because it is at low output and it will orbit at a speed of 28, 000km per hour. The Minister of Communications, Knowledge and Technology, Thulagano Segokgo, recently told Parliament that the P8 million spent so far was on-site preparation and construction of the ground station of the Botswana satellite project.

Segokgo also said the budget for the current financial year stands at P33 million, which is financing the development of the clean room and the development and launch of the satellite. He said for subsequent years, the budget is estimated at P33 million. Segokgo stated that the satellite is implemented into two parts, BOTSAT1, which is expected to be launched this year and the second part being BOTSAT2. “The Botswana satellite project is part of the space science programme that is intended to contribute to the knowledge economy. BOTSAT1, which is currently ongoing, has four major phases being; construction of the ground station which started in January 2022, and completed in November 2022. Development of the clean room which started in October 2023 and will be completed in April 2024,” Segokgo said.

Furthermore, he stated that the completion of the ground station has necessitated the country to receive its own information from the orbiting satellites though it is of low quality. To improve the quality of the resolution,

Segokgo said government is also planning to develop and launch a satellite (BOTSAT CubeSAT). “This component was started in October 2023 and will be completed in August 2024 and this will increase the resolution to 60mm which will significantly improve the quality,” Segokgo said. Moreover, the minister revealed that BOTSAT2 is slated to kick-start in August this year and be completed in January 2027.

“For BOTSAT 2 focus will be done on the development of scientific capabilities, development of local components by local engineering stakeholders, development of the better camera, more engagements with stakeholders and commercialization and launch BOTSAT2 satellite,” the minister further revealed. The minister was responding to a question from Palapye Legislator, Onneetse Ramogapi who had asked among others the total money spent from design up to the completion of the project. Back in 2020, President Mokgweetsi Masisi revealed that Botswana (in partnership with BIUST) will embark on establishing the country’s satellite.