Kenya announced Monday that it will launch its first operational satellite next week in a historic achievement for the country's space programme.

The Taiva 1 satellite, or "nation" in Swahili, is scheduled to be launched on April 10 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Kenya Space Agency, in a joint statement with the Ministry of Defense, called the mission a "significant achievement", adding that it would contribute significantly to the country's "emerging space economy".

The statement said the observation satellite was "completely designed and developed" by Kenyan engineers and would be used to provide information on agriculture, food security and other areas.

The statement indicated that the components of the satellite were tested and manufactured in cooperation with a Bulgarian aerospace company.

East Africa's leading economic powerhouse, Kenya, is suffering its worst drought in decades after five poor rainy seasons.

The launch of the Kenyan satellite will give impetus to African countries in the field of scientific innovation and the development of space programs. Egypt was the first African country to send a satellite into space in 1998.

In 2018, Kenya launched the first experimental nano satellite from the International Space Station.

As of 2022, at least 13 African countries have manufactured 48 satellites, according to the Nigeria-based Space in Africa agency that tracks African space programmes.

According to the agency, more than 50 African satellites were launched as of November 2022, but none of them were launched from African soil.

The Djibouti government announced a memorandum of understanding with a Hong Kong-based company to build a $1 billion commercial spaceport to launch rockets and vehicles into space, and is expected to take five years to build.