The government of Rwanda and a UK-based company OneWeb has launched the first-ever satellite, RwaSat-1, to connect remote schools in the country to the internet.

Many schools in the rural parts of Rwanda are without proper road networks and electricity, making it difficult to acquire internet connectivity.

Rwanda launches first-ever satellite to connect remote schools to the internet

The New Times reports that the satellite was sent into orbit on Wednesday, March 25, from a spaceport on the Atlantic coast of French Guiana.

According to reports, the first school to benefit from the broadband satellite is Group Secondary St Pierre, a school located in Nkombo Island.

Ahead of the launch, Rwanda’s ICT minister, Paula Ingabire, had said:

“Rwanda’s choice to invest in space technologies is part of our broader mission to bridge the digital divide by providing equal digital opportunities to rural and remote communities.

“We are delighted to partner with OneWeb in this transformative initiative which presents us a huge opportunity to leverage satellite connectivity, using OneWeb’s constellation, providing low-latency and high-speed internet to schools in remote communities of Rwanda.”

Source

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