THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has hailed the team that successfully launched Ghana’s first satellite into space on Friday ( 7 July).
“Congratulations to the team from All Nations Uni., Koforidua, for the successful launch of Ghana’s 1st satellite, GhanaSat-1, into orbit,” the elated president twittert.
The West African country celebrated the technological feat thanks to the efforts of a team from a private university, the All Nations University, located in its eastern regional town of Koforidua.
The satellite, GhanaSat-1, was shot into space from the International Space Station, while the team back in Ghana watched live pictures of the launch from the university’s auditorium. The first signal was received shortly afterwards.
GhanaSat-1, which has low and high resolution cameras on board and orbits 400km above the earth, is the result of a two-year project, costing $50,000. It received support from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
The satellite, which weighs 1 kg, will be used to monitor Ghana’s coastline for mapping purposes.
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Project coordinator, Dr Richard Damoah, said GhanaSat-1would “also help us train the upcoming generation on how to apply satellites in different activities around our region. For instance, monitoring illegal mining is one of the things we are looking to accomplish.”
Felix Dappah
