Space Station Logs Historic First ARISS Contact with Kenya

There was a historic first contact between Amateur Radio on the International Space Station and the African nation of Kenya.

The voice from space belonged to astronaut Sophie Adenot KJ5LTN, using the callsign OR4ISS. Back here on Earth, the voices were those of students at a school in Nairobi, Kenya, selected earlier this year to be the first in an African country to participate in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. It was hosted by the Kenya Space Agency on the 5th August 2026 with the help of a telebridge via ON4SS in Belgium. 

The students posed 11 questions, ranging on a variety of topics. 

The event was a big moment, not just for the students but for Kenya's relatively young space agency, established in 2017 to advance that nation's agenda for using space technology to boost socioeconomic development.