The Angolan Management Office of the National Space Program (GGPEN) has launched the third edition of a 5-week course on the design, construction, and launching of Cansats as part of the Angola ICT 2023 event.

The course will be held at the Instituto Superior de Tecnologias de Informacao and Communications, University of Luanda, from 8th May to 14th June. Participants will include over 40 students and lecturers from more than 15 public and private universities. Another objective of the course is to equip participants with knowledge about the functions, architecture and integration of satellite subsystems.

The participants will attend lectures with senior GGPEN engineers and master classes with world-renowned professors in the African space industry, such as Dr Taiwo Tejumola, Associate Professor at the International Space University and Professor Robert van Zyl. Managing Director, AAC Space Africa.

Participants will be charged with designing, building, testing, launching, and operating a Cansat. They will also process the data obtained from the functional representation of a real satellite integrated into a 330-millimetre can. In addition, with the support of the Angolan National Airforce, participants can launch their Cansats at more than 500 m altitude, test their ground telemetry data and verify the mission’s success.

With Angola focused on the use of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to support the participants in developing skills in space project engineering, engineering management, system engineering, and problem-solving, the course is within the scope of the Angolan Space Strategy 2016-2025, pillar 2, which aims the development of human capacity building and promotes awareness of using space technology for socio-economic development in Angola.