Ghana’s first satellite, dubbed Ghansat-1, was released and deployed into orbit at an altitude of 420 km, according to the media in that country on Friday.

“This followed the successful launch on June 10 into the International Space Station (ISS) by SpaceX, Flight 11 from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the United States,’’ the reports stated.

The process was reportedly watched live at All Nations University campus in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, about 85 kilometres east of the capital.

The satellite was said to have been built by students of the university.

“The successful launch of the satellite has put Ghana on the international map as the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to launch academic satellite into space.

“The successful launch also paved way for the country to explore the full benefit of satellite technology,’’ the reports added.

The satellite has cameras on-boardcapable of taking pictures of Ghana and providing data on happenings in its coastal areas and the environment.(Xinhua/NAN)