- Tanzania is laying the groundwork to launch its first satellite into space.
- The launch, which will enhance Tanzania’s tech industry, follows similar move by Uganda and Kenya.
- Twitter Owner Elon Musk’s Starlink has also been seeking the node to launch services in Tanzania.
Plans are underway for Tanzania’s first satellite to take off into the lower space, an initiative that will serve to improve the country’s tech industry and digital communications.
Tanzania’s first satellite to enhance connectivity
Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology Engineer Kundo Mathew said the satellite will improve digital communications in the country. He spoke at the Annual Audit Risk and Cybersecurity Conference held in Arusha, Tanzania.
According to Engineer Kundo, Tanzania’s first satellite will improve connectivity in areas where the terrain is too rugged to set terrestrial connection towers or to lay fiber optic cable.
“There are areas dotted with big hills and mountains where it becomes impossible for the fiber optic cables to be laid through. These are where the satellite will take over to spread digital waves,” he explains.
The government is deploying “a special team to study the needs of the proposed Tanzania’s first space satellite.” The satellite project is part of the Malabo Convention that provides for the protection of national airspace. Engineer Kundo said that Tanzania will “customize the satellite in accordance to the country’s needs.”
Tanzania’s first satellite to monitor borders
“We are taking time to identify our needs for the proposed national satellite. We are mulling the intended use of the satellite. Will it be just for patrolling our skies, or safeguarding our resources from the air? or maybe monitoring the country’s borders digitally,” he added.
Tanzania already has some 758 communication towers and is looking to set up another 600 to enhance connectivity. However, there are areas where the terrain is too rugged to set up towers, necessitating the use of satellite.
Read also: Musk dangles internet for Tanzania in exchange for Cobalt and Nickel
The move to launch Tanzania’s first satellite comes months after Twitter owner Elon Musk said his firm Starlink will provide communication services to the East African country.
“We would love to (operate in Tanzania). We are just waiting for the government’s approval,” Elon Musk tweeted in February.
Dr. Jabiri Bakari, the director general of the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority, informed The Citizen that Starlink has to follow the correct procedures before receiving an operational license.
Starlink, which is run by SpaceX, uses thousands of satellites in orbit to connect users to the internet by exchanging communications with certain ground transceivers.
Call to make Starlink available across East Africa
Tanzania appears on track to have extraordinary global standard connectivity for both internet and telecommunications, barring conflict between Starlink and the regulator.
Make Starlink available throughout Eastern Africa, notably Tanzania, so people can have better access to knowledge and create better futures, urged supporters of the Twitter owner like business billionaire Mike Coudrey.
Replying on Twitter, the Director General of Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Dr Jabiri Bakari said: “You will recall that you were supposed to submit the required documents to process the application according to the laws and procedures of this land. We are waiting and ready.”
Similarly, Tanzania Minister for Information, Communications, and Information Technology Nape Nnauye officially confirmed Starlink’s application; “We received the applications on October 6 last year. A number of issues are pending following our last meeting on January 27, 2023.”
Elon Musk’s team holds that Tanzanian telecom firms are frustrating Starlink’s licensing to protect the local market.
Kenya’s first satellite into orbit
After three unsuccessful attempts owing to bad weather, Kenya successfully launched its first satellite into orbit in April. According to the Kenya Space Agency, Kenya’s first satellite mission will deliver “precise, timely” earth observation satellite data.
Kenya’s satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States, on a Falcon-9 rocket. The nation and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) worked together to make the historic move.
Kenya’s satellite, Taifa-1, orbits the planet and passes over the country once every four days. Once it exits Kenyan boundaries to recharge, its cameras turn off. According to the Kenya Space Agency, Taifa-1 provides information for disaster management, environmental monitoring, and national security.
Uganda’s first satellite station
Uganda successfully launched its first satellite into the international space station in November of last year. Three engineers from Uganda and three from Japan assembled the satellite as part of an international satellite design effort.
In December 2022, Uganda’s PearlAfricaSat-1 cube-type satellite launched into low-Earth orbit. The PearlAfricaSat-1 will offer data for research and observation, according to the nation’s Ministry of Science and Technology. This information will aid in offering solutions for mapping minerals, weather forecasts, land use, and agriculture monitoring. Other applications include border security, infrastructure development, and disaster prevention.
