1KUNS-PF (1st Kenyan University NanoSatellite-Precursor Flight) was the first

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n owned satellite to be launched into space. The cubesat was developed and assembled by the University of Nairobi. Technical support was provided by Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency and it was launched from the International Space Station by a SpaceX

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...

rocket.

Background

The idea to have a Kenyan built satellite in space began in September 2015 with the planning and design of the space module. Financial support was obtained for the project when the University of Nairobi won a competitive grant from the

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the U.N. Secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space. It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory framew ...

(UNOOSA) in 2016. The University of Nairobi was the first institution to benefit from a joint project between the United Nations and

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

. The satellite was given the acronym 1KUNS-PF which in full is First Kenya University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight. External technical support was provided by

Sapienza University The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

together with two Italian companies. The cost of the programme was about a million dollars. The satellite orbited above the Earth.

Launch and purpose

On 2 April 2018, the satellite was carried on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

on board a

SpaceX CRS-14 SpaceX CRS-14, also known as SpX-14, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station launched on 2 April 2018. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX. This mission reused the Falcon 9 first stage ...

which was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket with help from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration. It was deployed from the space station into its orbit from the Kibō module on 11 May 2018. Its signal was successfully received from the Ground Station in Rome by the students of Sapienza University of Rome. Its launch was the third for an African country after

GhanaSat-1 GhanaSat-1 was the first Ghanaian nanosatellite to be launched into space. It was designed and built in two years in conjunction with the Kyushu Institute of Technology Birds-1 program, which has the goal of helping countries build their first ...

and

Nigeria EduSat-1 Nigeria EduSat-1 was a Nigerian Small satellite, nanosatellite built by the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), created in conjunction with the Japanese Birds-1 program. It was Nigeria's first satellite built by a university. It was ...

which went into service in 2017. In addition to 1KUNS-PF two other nano satellites, Ubakusat and Proyecto Irazú were also on board the Falcon-9 rocket to the ISS. All three satellites were deployed into space from the ISS by Japanese astronaut

Norishige Kanai is a Japanese doctor and JAXA astronaut. He is a lieutenant and Diving Medical Officer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Medical Service Division, 1st Service School). He served as a crew member on board the International Space Station f ...

. The 1KUNS-PF was a 1 unit cubesat. It was an experimental cubesat, with the main mission being to create awareness to the locals on the benefits of space uses. On board the cubesat, there were camera payloads, which were used to take mapping images of Kenya and other East Africa countries within the vicinity of its orbit. The cubesat was designed to have a lifespan of one year and its operations were within the UN space use mitigation measures. 1KUNS-PF deorbited in June 2020.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2018 Satellites orbiting Earth CubeSats First artificial satellites of a country Science and technology in Kenya Spacecraft launched in 2018 Student satellites Satellites deployed from the International Space Station 2018 in Kenya