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The first two Moroccan university nanosatellites, «UM5-EOSat» and «UM5-Ribat», were recently launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California (USA).
The project, carried out on August 16 at 19:56, is the result of a collaboration between Mohammed V University in Rabat, the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST), and the Moroccan Royal Center for Space Studies and Research, according to a press release from Mohammed V University in Rabat.
This collaboration aims to train a new generation of Moroccan university researchers and engineers in the field of space technologies, the same source notes.
Each of the two satellites has a mass of less than 4 kg and a volume of 300 x 100 x 100 mm, the press release states. «UM5-EOSat» is equipped with a camera for Earth Observation missions, while «UM5-Ribat» is equipped with a software-defined radio (SDR).
«UM5-Ribat» will carry out telecommunications missions, including locating airliners (ADS-B) and ships (AIS), as well as collecting data from ground terminals (IoT), according to the same source.
Their in-orbit reprogrammable design demonstrates the expertise developed within Mohammed V University, enabling satellite functionalities to be adjusted or modified in flight as needed.
The data collected by the nanosatellites will be made available to national universities, according to the same source.
This achievement illustrates «the Moroccan University's commitment to academic and scientific excellence and embodies the Kingdom's influence in the field of fundamental and applied research in space technologies», the press release concludes.
