The Tunisian satellite Challenge ONE was launched on Monday from the Baikonur base in south-central Kazakhstan aboard the Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket which also carried other satellites.
Challenge ONE is a research and innovation project that offers a new approach to information technology and its practical application. The results of Challenge ONE by Telnet will be used to create a constellation of 30 satellites.
On this occasion, Telnet Group, the owner of Challenge ONE, organized a ceremony at its headquarters in the capital Tunis to follow the live coverage of the event at the presence of Tunisian President Kais Saied.
“This event reflects the aspiration of Tunisia and young Tunisians to exceed the limits of the earth,” Saied said in a speech broadcasted on State television Wataniya 1.
For his part, Mohamed Frikha, Chief Executive Officer of Telnet Group, said: “It is the fruit of a whole generation of culture and knowledge as well as the work of 20 Tunisian engineers supervised by Telnet,” adding that this satellite is only the first step towards space which will be followed by others.
Challenge ONE is a small satellite that weighs about 3 kg. It will be used in the Internet of Things technology.
This satellite, designed and developed by exclusively Tunisian skills, will allow communication and data exchange in many areas including control, transport, agriculture and logistics by receiving data and sending it to suppliers around the world. Enditem.
Tunisia is the first country in the Maghreb to manufacture its own satellite, and the sixth on the African continent.Tunisia says it hopes to launch 20 more in the next 3 years.
Challenge ONE is Africa’s first satellite of 2021, bringing the total number of African satellites to 43. Only one satellite was launched by the continent in 2020, while eight were launched in 2019.
The African space market is now worth over $7 billion annually, according to the website Space in Africa, which reports that it ”is likely to grow over 40 percent in the next five years”.
