Showcasing its research works and achievements at the Science and Technology Expo in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) said it is working out modalities to launch a Cubesat, ‘Edusat-2’, between the month of June and July, 2021.
The Acting Director-General of NASRDA, Dr Francis Chizea, who made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), explained that EduSat-2 was a modification on EduSat-1 which the agency did in conjunction with the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and Japanese Birds-1 programme which was launched in 2017.
According to NIPC, quoting Punch, “a CubeSat is a type of very small satellite which is based on a standardized unit of mass and volume. It can be used alone or stacked to suit the needs of a specific mission.”
Dr. Chizea reiterated the poise of the agency to realize the mandate that set it up, maintaining that this mandate included construction of indigenous satellites, launching a Nigerian astronaut into space, and constructing and launching a Nigerian-made satellite into space.
In his words, “EduSat-2 was developed by NASRDA engineers, an earth observation satellite with minimal resolution and we are expecting to launch it in June or July from the International Space Station.
“We are already talking with the committee on the Peaceful Use of the Outer Space to help us secure launch facilities on one of the member countries, who have the facilities to provide for us.
“The satellite is one of its kind to be made by Nigeria and the only thing we can do now is to develop on that.
“The major thing the satellite will address is technology demonstration, to show that we can do it by ourselves, we want to show that it can work,” he said.
Concluding, Chizea said that Edusat-2 would not cost up to N20 to construct. “Cube Satellites are cheap to build. You can have a constellation of like 20 of them at low cost and in no time.”
Azuka Edokobi is a Writer , a Farmer, a Supply Chain Expert and an Entrepreneur
