From IKUNS to 1KUNS - First Kenyan university nanosatellite

1KUNS-PF (1st Kenyan University Nano Satellite - Precursor Flight) is a 1U-CubeSat selected in the framework of the UN/Japan Cooperation Program for CubeSat Deployment from the International Space Station (ISS) Japanese Expe rimental Module (Kibo) "KiboCUBE". The mission develops in a partnership between the School of Engineering - University of Nairobi, Kenya and University o f Ro me " La Sapien za", Ro me, Ita ly, with the support of the Kenya Space Agency and sponsorship from the Italian Space Agency, in the framework of the ASISapienza Agreement for the research and education activity at the Broglio Space Center in Malindi, Kenya. A jointed Postgraduate Course between Sapienza and University of Na irobi was established, to foster capacity building in aerospace at an academic institution level in Kenya, involving Italian and Kenyan students and professors in the higher education activity. Support to the satellite development and to the postgraduate course is provided by ASI and by Italian companies. The aim of 1KUNS-PF is to test in orbit several critical technologies that will fly onboard IKUNS, a 6U University CubeSat for Earth observation in the visual band, funded by ASI in collaboration with Sapienza University. 1KUNS-PF is a technology demonstration to test in orbit on-board systems that include commercial and in-house developed experimental devices. In detail, the nanosatellite payloads are a silicon cell solar panel made in the Nairobi facility, two commercial-off-the-shelf micro cameras and a telemetry electronic board designed to manage the experimental devices. The primary mission goal is to verify the performance of the on-board subsystems, receiving telemetry data from the satellite. Secondary scientific objectives are associated with the acquisition, storage on-board, and correct transmission to ground of low-defin ition, panchro matic images of the East Africa region, where the interest of Kenya lies for the Earth Observation applications in terms of agriculture monitoring, coastal areas monitoring, etc. This mission will allow to test and verify the performances obtained with the selected devices and developed software, in order to support the development of the IKUNS program. The paper describes the 1KUNS-PF project during its phases of design, from IKUNS to 1KUNS-PF, and the achievements obtained thanks to the collaboration between Kenyan and Italian institutions.