The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and aerospace manufacturer EnduroSat have announced that they are together building the country’s first satellite, BOTSAT-1. The satellite will launch on the SpaceX Transporter-13 mission during or after February 2025.
EnduroSat says BOTSAT-1 will directly benefit local agriculture and mining industries by using an onboard hyperspectral camera payload to provide key intelligence on the contents of grounds and soils. With this data, BIUST will be able to empower decision-makers with information useful for long-term planning and investments.
EnduroSat says this mission is also designed to generate hands-on technical and mission operations experience in Botswana. BIUST engineers will join the EnduroSat team in the company’s HQ in Sofia, Bulgaria, to complete the satellite’s assembly and payload integration. Furthermore, BIUST will take full advantage of the satellite’s software-flexible architecture via the SpaceOps software.
EnduroSat and BIUST’s collaboration will extend beyond the completion of the mission and help to make Botswana a space hub. The organisations will work to create exchange opportunities, based on EnduroSat’s newly founded Master’s Programme in Space Engineering and Technology.
EnduroSat designs, builds, and operates cubesats and nanosatellites for commercial and scientific missions and is developing inter-satellite linking and data applications.
The company says it is on a mission to transform the complex satellite industry into a streamlined data service, enabling instant access and transactions with space data from hundreds of sensors in orbit.