Botswana Successfully Launches First Satellite, Botsat-1

Botswana’s first satellite, BOTSAT-1, was successfully launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9—Transporter 13 rideshare mission on Saturday, March 15, 2025, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, USA. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off the Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at 06:39 am GMT, carrying 74 satellites. These included BOTSAT-1, 26 satellites as part of the Transporter-13 rideshare mission, and a trio of CubeSats for NASA’s Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) mission; Arvaker 1, the first microsatellite for Kongsberg NanoAvionics’ N3X constellation. Click here to watch the launch replay. BOTSAT-1 is a 3U hyperspectral Earth Observation satellite developed by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and led by Dr Dimane Mpoeleng, BOTSAT-1’s Project Lead. The project was done in collaboration with EnduroSat, the satellite’s lead manufacturer. Similarly, ExoLaunch managed the launch in partnership with Space X as part of the Transporter missions, a smal ... Read full article.