ACCRA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's first satellite, dubbed Ghansat-1, was released and deployed into orbit at an altitude of 420 km on Friday, local media reported.
This followed the successful launch on June 10 into the International Space Station (ISS) by SpaceX, Flight 11 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the United States, local radio Starr FM said on its website, starrfmonline.com.
The process was watched live at All Nations University campus in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, some 85 km east of the capital.
The satellite was built by students of All Nations University.
"The successful launch of the satellite has put Ghana on the international map as the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to launch academic satellite into space, paving way for the country to explore the full benefit of satellite technology," the Starr FM report said.
The satellite has cameras onboard capable of taking pictures of Ghana and providing data on happenings on Ghana's coastal areas and the environment.
