During a training session organised by Sapienza University of Rome, in collaboration with the Kenya Space Agency (KSA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), 16 participants from the KSA and several Kenyan universities completed a two-week course on space systems design and satellite operations. The training took place at the KSA headquarters in Nairobi and the Luigi Broglio-Malindi Space Centre.
The training outlined a forthcoming mission to bolster the current system’s capabilities, centred on designing, creating, and managing the WildTrackCube-SIMBA satellite. In 2019, the SIMBA satellite project was selected as the winner of the complimentary launch of a 1U CubeSat during the inaugural Commercial Mission hosted by GK Launch Services. The satellite designed by students from the Sapienza University of Rome tracks wild animals around the Kenyan National Parks.
Wildtrackcube-SIMBA (System for Improved Monitoring the Behaviour of Animals) is a 1 Unit satellite to demonstrate an innovative wildlife monitoring and tracking system using Internet of Things (IoT) payload based on LoRa and Chirp Spread Spectrum Modulation technology to receive data from radio transmitters attached to animal collars.