FUTA to launch satellite into space for Nigerian socio-economy development

The Federal University of Technology, Akure, is set to break a record as it announced launch of a satellite into space for the sustainable socio-economic development of the nation.

Premium Times reports that the satellite would be launched into space from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA.

FUTA announced on Tuesday, May 30, that it would on Thursday, June 1, achieve the goal in partnership with other local and international organisations and countries.

The institution declared that the satellite belonged to Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria and Bangladesh.

“It is the first ever university satellite to be launched in Nigeria,” a statement by the university stated.

Nigerian CubeSat, code name Nigeria Edusat-1, is designed, built and owned by the University.

The CubeSats will be launched and docked to the International Space Station where the satellites will be deployed into lower orbit during the last week of June 2017.

The CubeSats launch can be viewed live via the link

The school partners are National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) Abuja, Nigeria, and Kyushu Institute of Technology Japan.

Ibukun Adebolu of FUTA’s Department of Mechanical Engineering has been confirmed as the representative of Nigeria on the project.

The major objective of Nigeria Edusat-1 is capacity building. It is designed to domesticate the satellite technology in Nigerian universities.

FUTA’s objective is to make technology a common business among staff and students of universities in Nigeria.