Senegal celebrates a historic achievement with the successful launch of its first satellite, advancing the nation’s space ambitions.

On Friday evening, Senegal achieved a significant accomplishment by successfully launching its inaugural satellite from California.

Only 12 African nations have their own surveillance and telecommunications satellites in space, and it has now joined that elite group.

According to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the action taken is a significant stride in achieving Senegal’s “technological independence”.

He expressed his pride and gratitude to everyone who contributed towards this project in a post on X.

According to Maram Kaïré, the head of Senegal’s space agency, the launch signifies a significant stride and an auspicious occasion in our nation’s advancement and commitment towards becoming a country capable of exploring space.

Senegalese engineers collaborated with France’s Montpellier University Space Centre to build GAINDESAT-1A.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the nanosatellite, along with 115 others, into orbit from Vandenberg base in California.

The data will be gathered for different state agencies, comprising of water resources management, civil aviation regulation, and meteorological services.