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Botswana launches first satellite BOTSAT-1 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

(spaceinafrica.com)
395 points vinnyglennon | 1 comments | 26 Mar 25 16:02 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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scrappyjoe ◴[27 Mar 25 05:46 UTC] No.43490681[source]▶
So many strong opinions here from commenters who aren’t actually from Botswana. Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here.

We think it’s awesome! The establishment of a university of science and technology in Botswana has been a long hard road, and many mistakes have been made along the way. But the fact that Botswana now has the local skill to deploy a satellite and make use of the data it provides to inform decisions blows my mind.

I grew up in the village that now hosts the university. We were so isolated back then that I’d listen to the Voice of America and marvel at the things that were being done in the developed world, and wonder if we would ever be able to participate in that level. The fact that a smart kid can grow up to attend a local university and end up launching a SATELLITE INTO SPACE is incredible!

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api ◴[27 Mar 25 12:59 UTC] No.43493139[source]▶
Do you see signs of Africa undergoing the developmental transformation we’ve seen in past decades in places like China and Vietnam? I’ve been expecting it for a while.
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1. scrappyjoe ◴[27 Mar 25 13:19 UTC] No.43493324[source]▶
Well, scoped to just Botswana, when my dad was 10, in the 60's, we had just 15km of tar road in the whole country.

In the 80's when we moved to the village I grew up in, we didn't have a phone - we had a telegraph address.

In the 90's, to get fresh fruit and cheese, we would drive for 3 hours across sand roads to another country to shop at a supermarket.

In 1998 my village got its first chain restaurant and it was a big deal.

In 2009 I tried to modernise the family business by getting our managers to use email and very few of them could navigate the internet. In 2012, my family's vegetable farming plot was one of many that were claimed by the government to start the BIUST and I couldn't fathom how they would staff it.

And in 2025, the BIUST launched a satellite.

Lots of problems, but certainly progress.