The Ghanaian authorities will launch their first satellite called “Ghanasat 1” before 2020. The project is led by Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute and Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).
According to the General Director of GAEC, Benjamin Nyarko Jabez, “the satellite would help Ghana to benefit from space technology to boost economic development.” The first phase of the project will start with the establishment of a data center in 2015. The center will aim to receive process and analyze radar images of the satellite constellation of the Italian Space Agency.
In the second phase, it would be a matter of creating a direct receiving ground station. And this is the final phase which will be the actual launch of the satellite in 2020 and the establishment of a center for earth observation satellite.
The satellite would allow Ghana to obtain satellite images and other information from the tropics. The information gathered will be very useful in areas such as security, risk management, maritime management, environmental monitoring, road transport, defense and intelligence.
For a first try, scientists of Intelligence Space Systems Laboratory at the University of Ghana have launched on the 31st December, a miniature satellite called “CanSat” in the space.
Joy Fiifi Koomson, space laboratory technician gives the characteristics of this mini satellite. “The CanSat cylindrical probe is about 5 cm in diameter and 8 cm in height, has a powerful camera attached to it,” he says.
According to him, this mini satellite will gather information on floods, oil deposits, among others in his brief stay in space, 200 meters in the air.
“We hope that this practical demonstration will generate more enthusiasm ignite their imagination to come up with more creative things, and show that it is possible that they will one day be able to start their own real satellite in orbit “said Prosper Kofi Ashilevi, Space Science Director of Ghana technology Centre.