28 February 2025

Through the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA), the country plans to develop additional satellites, including its third Earth Observational satellite, ZIMSAT-3.

ZINGA’s director general, Painos Gemwe, highlighted that the agency is keen to leverage space technology for national development.

The country’s specific and practical needs have driven the increase in the number of its planned satellites. Zimbabwe does not have real-time Earth observation capabilities that provide updated satellite imagery every 5-6 hours. Such capabilities are essential to applications such as monitoring environmental changes, analysing crop yields and monitoring soil erosion. This has been evidenced by the prioritisation of agricultural support through ZIMSAT-2, the country’s second satellite launched into orbit in November 2024.

To support the development of these future satellites, the Mazowe Ground Station has been upgraded to accommodate the L, S and X bands, including Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) transmissions. This makes the ground station a commercially viable project with potential for ground-station-as-a-service capabilities, as it continues to assist the country in transmission of its available in-orbit satellites.