Botswana partners with Bulgarian Aerospace giant EnduroSat to launch first satellite

The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) is teaming up with EnduroSat, a Bulgarian aerospace company to build the South African nation's first software-defined satellite.

BIUST engineers will collaborate with the EnduroSat team in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital to complete the satellite assembly and payload integration. The satellite, called BOTSAT-1, is scheduled to launch by February 2025.

American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX is expected to play a crucial role in the satellite's journey to space as BOTSAT-1 is slated to launch aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-13 mission. The collaboration is expected to pave the way for Botswana to establish itself as a regional space hub, reflecting the country’s scientific and technological advancements.

BOTSAT-1 promises to deliver valuable data for resource management and economic planning and support Botswana’s mining and agricultural industries. 

The satellite will be equipped with a hyperspectral sensor camera, capable of capturing detailed imagery from an altitude of 500 kilometres that will also allow it to collect data across multiple light bands, including near-infrared portions of the spectrum reflected by Earth’s surface, with a spatial resolution of 32 meters and a swath width of 32 meters.

This project will make Botswana the 16th African nation to have a satellite in orbit upon successfully launching its satellite. Nigeria has also revealed plans to send its first citizen to space, while Zimbabwe recently launched ZimSat-2. Zambia has also partnered with StarVision for a spaceborne AI algorithm rideshare project, this shows the effort other African nations are making in space technology.

As BOTSAT-1 launches into space, it marks a new chapter in Botswana’s history and promises to deliver technological innovation, economic growth, and improved resource management for the Nation.