REPORT
By Peter Banda
International Correspondent
Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s Historical 1st orbit Satellite Project Launched
Zimbabwe;s Tech and Project Management community was on cloud 19 in celebrations, following the historical inaugural launch of an orbiting satellite to space amongst other payloads on 7 November 2022. Dubbed ZimSat-1, the satellite project was launched under the NASA sponsored BIRD 5 project that is set to piggyback Zimbabwe and Uganda.
The BIRDS Project was rolled out to allow countries without space agencies and orbiting satellites to be able to do so primarily for their first satellite. As for the BIRD 5 Project, it is the 5th edition which is now primarily catering for Zimbabwe and Uganda’s first satellites. Zimbabwe’s part of the payload on Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket is a 1U CubeSat portable satellite that was co-developed with Japan. This satellite is modular with the smallest module or smallest functional system being a cube that is 1U (1 unit) in size hence the name. The sensor equipped on the satellite is a camera that will be used to gather visual and spectral data on the surface conditions of the area being observed. Processing of this data from the camera sensor as well as other features of the satellite like communication and management of the satellite in orbit will be handled by 3 Raspberry Pi boards.
According to one of the Project Managers, Painos Gweme of Zimbabwe’s National Geo-spatial and Space Agency (ZNGSA), data gathered & processed by ZimSat-1 will include:
- Land Use and Cover
The satellite images taken by multispectral camera made by BIRDS 5 members with a spatial resolution of 100m shall be used to investigate land Use and cover such as crop health, soil adjusted vegetation index, cultivated area and leaf chlorophyll index using NDVI Images.
- Soil Fertility
The multispectral camera shall be used to capture images of the member countries. The images shall facilitate analysis of the nitrogen/fertility level of soil using GIS software.
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How to cite this work: Banda, P. (2022). Zimbabwe’s Historical 1st orbit Satellite Project Launched, Project Management Update from Zimbabwe, report, PM World Journal, Vol. XI, Issue XI, November. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/pmwj124-Dec2022-Banda-Zimbabwe-1st-satellite-launched-report.pdf
About the Author
Peter Banda
Harare, Zimbabwe
Peter Banda is an agile Portfolio Manager with Change Management, Marketing & Project Management Skills, and an accomplished entrepreneur with broad stakeholder management experience. He is a founder member of Zimbabwe’s largest Association of Project Managers with a membership of over 4000, Project Management Zimbabwe (PMZ). He has worked in both the private & public sectors during the last 20 years in Zimbabwe, Botswana & South Africa. Peter is a born & passionate teacher, mentor & trainer with skills ranging from Personal Development Planning to Project Management. Peter has presented & published over 30 papers at high profile international conferences & leading newspapers & publications respectively during the last 10 years.
Peter is currently Secretary- General & CEO of PROJECT MANAGEMENT ZIMBABWE (PMZ). Responsibilities cover strategic navigation of PMZ towards the vision covering board advisory and stakeholder management. He was previously a Higher Education Examiner, Facilitator, Lecturer, Curriculum Developer and Assessor for both local and International Diploma and Degree courses for the Zimbabwe Ministry of Higher & Tertiary Education. Peter holds a Bachelors (Hon.) degree and MSc qualification, and is currently studying for a PhD & other certifications. A God-fearing father of 2 lovely daughters & 1 son, Peter likes reading & researching current affairs, coaching others to realise their dreams, and watching soccer & cricket.
Peter Banda can be contacted at PMZ National Secretariat Office info@pmiz.org.zw
To view original works by Peter Banda, visit his author profile in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/peter-banda-2/
