• Senegal plans to launch second satellite, GAINDESAT-1B, in 2026

• Satellite builds on GAINDESAT-1A’s environmental and monitoring capabilities

• Project aims to boost local expertise, sovereignty and national security

Senegal plans to launch a second satellite, GAINDESAT-1B, in 2026, Professor Gayane Faye, coordinator of the SENSAT satellite programme, said on Thursday in Dakar. She was speaking at the opening lecture for the 2025-2026 academic year at the Centre for Advanced Defence and Security Studies (CHEDS).

The new satellite is designed to build on GAINDESAT-1A, Senegal’s first satellite, launched in August 2024 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the United States. The 1U CubeSat collects environmental data and imagery, which officials say can support natural resource management, territorial monitoring and climate observation.

The project is also part of efforts to develop local expertise. Senegal plans to create a doctoral programme in space research at CHEDS for officers, security professionals and researchers, with the aim of aligning scientific work more closely with operational state needs.

With GAINDESAT-1B, authorities aim to expand Senegal’s space capabilities, which they see as supporting sovereignty and national security.

“It is now impossible to talk about defence without referring to space,” Faye said, pointing to the role of space technologies in monitoring maritime areas, cities and borders.

Adoni Conrad Quenum