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So many strong opinions here from commenters who aren’t actually from Botswana. Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here. We think it’s awesome! The

So many strong opinions here from commenters who aren’t actually from Botswana. Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here. We think it’s awesome! The establishment of a university of science and technology in Botswana has been a long hard road, and many mistakes have been made along the way. But the fact that Botswana now has the local skill to deploy a satellite and make use of the data it provides to inform decisions blows my mind. I grew up in the village that now hosts the university. We were so isolated back then that I’d listen to the Voice of America and marvel at the things that were being done in the developed world, and wonder if we would ever be able to participate in that level. The fact that a smart kid can grow up to attend a local university and end up launching a SATELLITE INTO SPACE is incredible!

0xDEAFBEAD 2y ago
Congratulations!
mmooss 2y ago
Congratulations! And thank you for sharing an informed perspective (maybe the only one in this discussion!). As you know, Botswana is also one of Africa's leading democracies.
Swinx43 2y ago
Absolutely fantastic!! I love Botswana. I spent quite a lot of time in Gaborone for work. Growing up my home town was 80 kilometres from the Botswana border and we regularly visited friends there. I am so happy to see this news. Botswana has a special place in my heart. Well done Botswana! I can’t wait to see what else comes next.
NeutralForest 2y ago
I'm very glad to hear about your experience, it also touches on something deeply human when we can elevate ourselves and reach for the sky =)
mrtksn 2y ago
Don't worry too much about negative opinions, there is usually a strong bias against non-US projects in the English speaking web. A common trick is to have an office in USA and make it hard to figure out where's your project actually based. There's usually some sympathy for the British and Israeli, then you get some envy for the Russian and Japanese based stuff if they are doing something authentic or feeds into the stereotypes. Lastly you can get sympathy based on current culture war or political talking points(EU lately gets some sympathy and heat for being not-Trump for example). They will deny it but it is true, if you read the English-only web you will get the impression that no one outside the US does anything innovative and the rest of the world just lives lives of a caricature. The last few years many people were involved in fintech assuming that outside the US consumer banking must be horrible or non-existent if its that bad the USA. Many got investment in blockchain BS that will bring banking and online payments to Africa or Asia or something, only to fail once they realized that in many of those places that tech was much more developed and widely used than the US! No wonder the negativity when you mention Botswana :) You should pair it with something to create a story. Maybe start a Bitcoin national reserves or make Firefox the default browser on government computers, anything that a group of people have opinions(if Botswana is taking on tech giants and launching a satellite, some people will be rooting for Botswana and will write how the company they hate is finished thanks to the Botswana's satellite). Even better if you can incorporate something hot like AI, from an underdog like Anthropic ideally.
- leokennis 2y ago
  > outside the US consumer banking must be horrible or non-existent if its that bad the USA When I read about US consumer banking ("cashing" cheques like its 1975, all kinds of ATM fees, credit scores and having to use weird "you are not really sending money real time but because the app you are sending the payment instruction through is legit you can sort of be assured the money will be paid eventually") and then look at the European payments landscape...I feel happy.
  - esskay 2y ago
    It is a bit baffling how the US is so far behind on basically everything when it comes to money, banking and payments. I'm not sure many American's even realise how god awful their setup is.
noufalibrahim 2y ago
Great to hear the positive note. There was a lot of armchair commentary when India launched its space program and got its satellites in orbit. And your disregard for those voices is exactly how I felt when it happened here in India. Congratulations to Botswana!
sokols 2y ago
Congratulations on the successful launch! > .. I’d listen to the Voice of America.. I grew up listening to VoA as a kid as well, I was born in a then not so developed part of the Balkans. Sometimes I have the feeling that the ordinary Americans don't have a clue about the impact VoA had in the countries like ours.
- clarionbell 2y ago
  Those in government right now certainly don't, or they don't care.
  - alistairSH 2y ago
    Where "those in government" is "Trump, Musk, and their minions", yep. The actual bureaucrats are mostly pissed off.
- blackoil 2y ago
  My father/grandfather were avid fans of international broadcasts. VoA, Radio Nippon, Deutsche Weller, BBC. By our childhood, TV came with 2 channels and in adolescence 60. My son has access to YouTube, Netflix...
- StefanBatory 2y ago
  I am Polish; I didn't grew up during period of Communist occupation, but I've certainly heard of stories of people risking their wellbeing via trying to listen to VoA. It was very much a big crime.
  - epolanski 2y ago
    Radio Wolna Europa was the one that my parents and grandparents listened to more often in communist Poland.
    - omega1 2y ago
      In my town (in Czechoslovakia), of the people of my generation, only those who listened to the BBC or VoA knew who the Vaclav Havel was, who became the first president after the fall of communism. I can't imagine the chaos that would happen if no one had any true information at the time of the fall of communism.
yard2010 2y ago
I wish you all the best brother. May your country be heaven for you, your family and your community. Keep up the progress! Yours, a friend from another developing country
Ray20 2y ago
>Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here. Can we have the opinion not from some privileged elites, but of the oppressed majority, who are literally starving to involuntarily under threat of execution finance all this support projects for this disgusting government?
- varjag 2y ago
  When USSR launched the world's first satellite into space, the enthusiasm was universal. Even among its peasants who at the time were paperless indentured servants.
  - Ray20 2y ago
    >Even among its peasants No, it wasn't. This is Soviet propaganda, that existed only because people who expressed different opinions were killed. As far as I understand, the situation in Botswana is much better when it comes to expressing one's opinion. So I am interested in what they think about this issue.
    - varjag 2y ago
      You would not have been killed in Khrustchev times for expressing a dissatisfaction with the space programme, even though it certainly deviated from the party line. Perhaps it's worth considering that what people find inspiring does not necessarily reflect their material condition: humans are complex creatures.
      - dingnuts 2y ago
        just ten years in the gulag archipelago I guess lol, not death!
        varjag 2y ago
        GULag system was disbanded by same Khrushchev in favor of traditional prisons.
api 2y ago
Do you see signs of Africa undergoing the developmental transformation we’ve seen in past decades in places like China and Vietnam? I’ve been expecting it for a while.
- scrappyjoe 2y ago
  Well, scoped to just Botswana, when my dad was 10, in the 60's, we had just 15km of tar road in the whole country. In the 80's when we moved to the village I grew up in, we didn't have a phone - we had a telegraph address. In the 90's, to get fresh fruit and cheese, we would drive for 3 hours across sand roads to another country to shop at a supermarket. In 1998 my village got its first chain restaurant and it was a big deal. In 2009 I tried to modernise the family business by getting our managers to use email and very few of them could navigate the internet. In 2012, my family's vegetable farming plot was one of many that were claimed by the government to start the BIUST and I couldn't fathom how they would staff it. And in 2025, the BIUST launched a satellite. Lots of problems, but certainly progress.
- epolanski 2y ago
  I honestly doubt. Vietnam and China have very stable (albeit dictatures) governments that invest heavily in education and infrastructure. Most of Africa, except some places like Botswana is very unstable politically. Plenty of conflicts, insane corruption levels.
- bluGill 2y ago
  Africa is not a country. Some countries in Africa are doing much better than others. Some are the stereotype of a new revolution every few years bringing in a new corruption. Some are stable and growing.
DeathArrow 2y ago
>But the fact that Botswana now has the local skill to deploy a satellite Congrats, but the article says that the satellite is being deployed by SpaceX.
myheartisinohio 2y ago
You should be proud. I am happy to see this achievement. I hope it inspires more people in Botswana to pursue engineering. Thank you for sharing.
xnx 2y ago
> I’d listen to the Voice of America and marvel at the things that were being done in the developed world, This is extra sad because the Trump administration has just killed Voice of America. Possibly fitting because this administration is also doing its best to eliminate the US being part of the "developed world".

0xDEAFBEAD 2y ago

Congratulations!

mmooss 2y ago

Congratulations! And thank you for sharing an informed perspective (maybe the only one in this discussion!). As you know, Botswana is also one of Africa's leading democracies.

Swinx43 2y ago

Absolutely fantastic!! I love Botswana. I spent quite a lot of time in Gaborone for work. Growing up my home town was 80 kilometres from the Botswana border and we regularly visited friends there. I am so happy to see this news. Botswana has a special place in my heart. Well done Botswana! I can’t wait to see what else comes next.

NeutralForest 2y ago

I'm very glad to hear about your experience, it also touches on something deeply human when we can elevate ourselves and reach for the sky =)

mrtksn 2y ago

Don't worry too much about negative opinions, there is usually a strong bias against non-US projects in the English speaking web. A common trick is to have an office in USA and make it hard to figure out where's your project actually based. There's usually some sympathy for the British and Israeli, then you get some envy for the Russian and Japanese based stuff if they are doing something authentic or feeds into the stereotypes. Lastly you can get sympathy based on current culture war or political talking points(EU lately gets some sympathy and heat for being not-Trump for example). They will deny it but it is true, if you read the English-only web you will get the impression that no one outside the US does anything innovative and the rest of the world just lives lives of a caricature. The last few years many people were involved in fintech assuming that outside the US consumer banking must be horrible or non-existent if its that bad the USA. Many got investment in blockchain BS that will bring banking and online payments to Africa or Asia or something, only to fail once they realized that in many of those places that tech was much more developed and widely used than the US! No wonder the negativity when you mention Botswana :) You should pair it with something to create a story. Maybe start a Bitcoin national reserves or make Firefox the default browser on government computers, anything that a group of people have opinions(if Botswana is taking on tech giants and launching a satellite, some people will be rooting for Botswana and will write how the company they hate is finished thanks to the Botswana's satellite). Even better if you can incorporate something hot like AI, from an underdog like Anthropic ideally.

leokennis 2y ago
> outside the US consumer banking must be horrible or non-existent if its that bad the USA When I read about US consumer banking ("cashing" cheques like its 1975, all kinds of ATM fees, credit scores and having to use weird "you are not really sending money real time but because the app you are sending the payment instruction through is legit you can sort of be assured the money will be paid eventually") and then look at the European payments landscape...I feel happy.
- esskay 2y ago
  It is a bit baffling how the US is so far behind on basically everything when it comes to money, banking and payments. I'm not sure many American's even realise how god awful their setup is.

noufalibrahim 2y ago

Great to hear the positive note. There was a lot of armchair commentary when India launched its space program and got its satellites in orbit. And your disregard for those voices is exactly how I felt when it happened here in India. Congratulations to Botswana!

sokols 2y ago

Congratulations on the successful launch! > .. I’d listen to the Voice of America.. I grew up listening to VoA as a kid as well, I was born in a then not so developed part of the Balkans. Sometimes I have the feeling that the ordinary Americans don't have a clue about the impact VoA had in the countries like ours.

clarionbell 2y ago
Those in government right now certainly don't, or they don't care.
- alistairSH 2y ago
  Where "those in government" is "Trump, Musk, and their minions", yep. The actual bureaucrats are mostly pissed off.
blackoil 2y ago
My father/grandfather were avid fans of international broadcasts. VoA, Radio Nippon, Deutsche Weller, BBC. By our childhood, TV came with 2 channels and in adolescence 60. My son has access to YouTube, Netflix...
StefanBatory 2y ago
I am Polish; I didn't grew up during period of Communist occupation, but I've certainly heard of stories of people risking their wellbeing via trying to listen to VoA. It was very much a big crime.
- epolanski 2y ago
  Radio Wolna Europa was the one that my parents and grandparents listened to more often in communist Poland.
  - omega1 2y ago
    In my town (in Czechoslovakia), of the people of my generation, only those who listened to the BBC or VoA knew who the Vaclav Havel was, who became the first president after the fall of communism. I can't imagine the chaos that would happen if no one had any true information at the time of the fall of communism.

yard2010 2y ago

I wish you all the best brother. May your country be heaven for you, your family and your community. Keep up the progress! Yours, a friend from another developing country

Ray20 2y ago

>Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here. Can we have the opinion not from some privileged elites, but of the oppressed majority, who are literally starving to involuntarily under threat of execution finance all this support projects for this disgusting government?

varjag 2y ago
When USSR launched the world's first satellite into space, the enthusiasm was universal. Even among its peasants who at the time were paperless indentured servants.
- Ray20 2y ago
  >Even among its peasants No, it wasn't. This is Soviet propaganda, that existed only because people who expressed different opinions were killed. As far as I understand, the situation in Botswana is much better when it comes to expressing one's opinion. So I am interested in what they think about this issue.
  - varjag 2y ago
    You would not have been killed in Khrustchev times for expressing a dissatisfaction with the space programme, even though it certainly deviated from the party line. Perhaps it's worth considering that what people find inspiring does not necessarily reflect their material condition: humans are complex creatures.
    - dingnuts 2y ago
      just ten years in the gulag archipelago I guess lol, not death!
      - varjag 2y ago
        GULag system was disbanded by same Khrushchev in favor of traditional prisons.

api 2y ago

Do you see signs of Africa undergoing the developmental transformation we’ve seen in past decades in places like China and Vietnam? I’ve been expecting it for a while.

scrappyjoe 2y ago
Well, scoped to just Botswana, when my dad was 10, in the 60's, we had just 15km of tar road in the whole country. In the 80's when we moved to the village I grew up in, we didn't have a phone - we had a telegraph address. In the 90's, to get fresh fruit and cheese, we would drive for 3 hours across sand roads to another country to shop at a supermarket. In 1998 my village got its first chain restaurant and it was a big deal. In 2009 I tried to modernise the family business by getting our managers to use email and very few of them could navigate the internet. In 2012, my family's vegetable farming plot was one of many that were claimed by the government to start the BIUST and I couldn't fathom how they would staff it. And in 2025, the BIUST launched a satellite. Lots of problems, but certainly progress.
epolanski 2y ago
I honestly doubt. Vietnam and China have very stable (albeit dictatures) governments that invest heavily in education and infrastructure. Most of Africa, except some places like Botswana is very unstable politically. Plenty of conflicts, insane corruption levels.
bluGill 2y ago
Africa is not a country. Some countries in Africa are doing much better than others. Some are the stereotype of a new revolution every few years bringing in a new corruption. Some are stable and growing.

DeathArrow 2y ago

>But the fact that Botswana now has the local skill to deploy a satellite Congrats, but the article says that the satellite is being deployed by SpaceX.

myheartisinohio 2y ago

You should be proud. I am happy to see this achievement. I hope it inspires more people in Botswana to pursue engineering. Thank you for sharing.

xnx 2y ago

> I’d listen to the Voice of America and marvel at the things that were being done in the developed world, This is extra sad because the Trump administration has just killed Voice of America. Possibly fitting because this administration is also doing its best to eliminate the US being part of the "developed world".