The first Tunisian satellite "Challenge One" was launched into space by a Russian carrier rocket. This was reported by Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM.
The satellite was launched by a Soyuz-2.1a rocket with 38 spacecraft from 18 countries from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan.
Mohamed Friha, director of Telnet Holding, which created the satellite, said earlier that the device was fully developed and created by Tunisian scientists and engineers and successfully passed all functional and a number of launch tests.
"Challenge One" was originally scheduled to be put into orbit in November 2020, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the launch was postponed until March 2021.
In June 2019, Russian companies Sputniks and Glavkosmos Launch Services and Tunisia's Telnet Holding signed a memorandum of understanding, under which the partners agreed to cooperate in building small spacecraft and components for them, as well as in launching small satellites and deploying satellite constellations.
The Tunisian satellite is designed to power the Internet of things and, for the first time in the world, the LoRa space communication protocol will be used.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Roskosmos
Based on materials from TASS