Egypt launches 2nd cube satellite into space

CAIRO, Sept 17 (MENA) - Egypt has launched its second cube satellite Narsscube-1 into space, said chairman of the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) Dr Mohamed Zahran Tuesday.

The new satellite is set to be released to orbit on November 1, Zahran said in an interview with MENA.

Designed, constructed and tested by an Egyptian team, Narsscube-1 has more power storage capabilities and higher ground imaging resolution, Zahran said.

It is meant to boost potentials of Egypt's national space program with the aim to achieve sustainable development, he added.

Developed by NARSS, Narsscube-1 should also produce reliable data from space and promote applied research in space engineering at
Egyptian universities and research institutes.

The satellite carries a small camera with a ground resolution of 100 meters to take snapshots of Egypt territories.

The NARSSCube satellite program started in July 2017 with the goal of "demonstrating, in orbit, the capabilities of the NARSS team to develop in-house satellite subsystems".

The program is providing Egyptian engineers and scientists with hands-on research experience in nanosatellite subsystems, which will ultimately bolster Egypt’s capabilities in space science and engineering.

NARSS received a total project funding of about 13 million pounds from the Academy of Scientific Research in Egypt (ASRT) to build three cube satellites: NARSSCube-1 (1U), NARSSCube-2 (2U) and NARSSCube-3 (3U).

The Authority is currently developing the more advanced 3U NARSSCube-3, with launching scheduled for the third quarter of 2020.