The Federal University of Technology, Akure, announced on Tuesday that it would on Thursday launch a satellite into space in partnership with other local and international organisations and countries.

The university said the satellite belonged to Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria and Bangladesh, and would be launched into Space from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA.

“It is the first ever university satellite to be launched in Nigeria,” a statement by the university stated.

The Nigerian CubeSat, code name NigeriaEdusat-1, is designed, built and owned by The Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, in collaboration with National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, Abuja, Nigeria, and Kyushu Institute of Technology Japan.

The major objective of NigeriaEdusat-1 is capacity building, i. e. domesticating the satellite technology in a Nigerian university, FUTA, and making the technology a common business among staff and students of the university in Nigeria for the purpose of research, resources and environmental management and sustainable socio-economic development of the nation.

The satellite technology development in the long run shall have spillover effects on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education that is an essential tool for a country industrial development.