In late months , NASA has lamented the lack of nonage scholar interested in majoring in science and engineering field and has now partner with the United Negro College Fund for encourage college - bound African - American students to consider a career in these under - represented field of study . If astrobiology enquiry seems like an insurmountable end to some U.S. students , perhaps they ’d be encouraged by the efforts of the dedicated radical of workers and research worker that comprises the infinite program in the Democratic Republic of Congo . With special imagination and an even more limited cash supply , Congolese skyrocket enthusiasts have been set up Troposphere crafts with vary degree of succeeder since 2007 .
The melodic theme of actually attempting space travel from Congo did n’t originate there , but rather with a West German company called Orbital Transport und Raketn Aktiengesellschaft ( OTRAG ) . establish in Stuttgart in 1975 , OTRAG had a corporate vision of “ space hauling , ” or a “ throwaway ” method of transporting communicating and other passive satellite into orbit at buy - basement cost . The caller had one major hurdle to overcome , however — mainly the improve 1954 Treaty of Brussels , which proscribe the evolution and debut of missiles on German soil . OTRAG made an strange ( and controversial at the fourth dimension ) agreement with President Mobutu Sese Seko of the Republic of Zaire in 1978 for the 25 - year renting of a plot of state approximately the size of Indiana to serve as “ the individual Cape Canaveral of Africa . ” The location was chosen partially for its proximity to the equator , but the willingness of a national leader to hold to a long - term lease for a large parcel of land of land also played a major part in Zaire ’s extract . OTRAG-1 , consisting of four actuation modules , a nose cone , and four fins , was launched from Zaire on May 18 , 1977 , and achieved an altitude of 12 mile before the four locomotive engine broke off and OTRAG-1 plummeted back to Earth .
The Iron Curtain Comes Down
Two years after OTRAG-1 plunge , President Mobutu bowed to press from the Soviet Union ( who ’d accumulate “ intelligence ” hound OTRAG to World War II - epoch Nazi scientist and were convinced the society was a front for gather military intelligence ) and cut its ties with OTRAG .
The German party took their $ 150 million and moved to Libya for a time before going belly - up . Meanwhile , the space hemipteran had bitten the rural area now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo . It bubble under the surface for many twelvemonth , particularly in the mind of Jean - Patrice Keka , who graduated from Kinshasa ’s Institut Supérieur des Techniques Appliquées ( ISTA ) with a degree in engineering . Keka take shape his own company , Développement Tous Azimuts ( DTA ) , with an center to finally launching the first African satellite .
Small Company, Big Dreams
Try, Try Again
Despite the dashing hopes of Troposphere I , DTA persevered and successfully set in motion Troposphere II on July 10 , 2007 . The rocket reached an altitude of 1,014 metre ( .63 nautical mile ) in 35 second . Troposphere III suffered the same destiny as model number one , but Troposphere IV carry off to fly 15 km ( a little over nine miles ) into the atmosphere in 47 seconds on July 10 , 2008 , hitting a top speed of Mach 2.7 . The Minister of Higher Education , University and Scientific Research , was present at this launch and upon his recommendation , the Congolese government got imply with DTA ’s space political program and offered some fiscal funding .
Rats!
Troposphere V was a two - leg roquette that launched on March 28 , 2008 . The $ 50,000 five - meter long craft was reckon to get to an height of 36 km ( 22 miles ) in 95 seconds at Mach 3 . This was also the first craft in the Congolese quad program to have a passenger aboard — a skunk that ultimately gave its aliveness for science , since Troposphere cinque failed to launch vertically and crashed shortly after liftoff . Despite this latest reverse , Jean - Patrice Keka and his team are hard at oeuvre on Troposphere VI . The Congolese government is also offering its living , as a full - fledged space program could ensue in unlimited exercise chance in the form of party needed to bring forth the necessary chemical , electronic and telecom components . Keka also envisions future involvement in the project on a Pan - African level , with bookman across the continent choosing to study the corollary scientific disciplines so as to work together to build a state - of - the art space center .
