Kumatoo

Update on Serigne Mactar BA’s works
April 26, 2012

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The new version of the experimental rocket SKIMIKAMIYA 30P_V3 is now a technologically advanced device. Indeed, the speed, stability, robustness and the study of materials have been improved. Thus, before increasing the range of the rocket, the focus was on the reliability of the device.



This new version is waterproof and its simplicity makes it easy to be launched at any time, place and occasion. Regarding the warhead, adjustments have increased the versatility of embarked payloads. This enables the device to carry a solid, liquid or gas mass.
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Serigne Mactar BA is an electromechanical engineer from Senegal who has designed and built made in Senegal rockets. He was one of the attractions in March 2010 in Dakar at the SARIS (Salon de la Recherche et des Innovations or Research and Innovations Show) where he presented his invention to the Senegalese President, among other visitors.

The adventure begins in 2000 with the first rocket that should have reached a distance of approximately 300 m (vertical thrust) and 800 m (ballistic flight or curve).

The latest series of rockets called Skimikamiya-30P should reach a ballistic distance of about 14 km and reach a distance comprised between 5 and 6 km in vertical flight.

The launching ramp of the Skimikamiya-30P experimental rocket has a jack that provides angles comprised between 0° and 90° (with a possible rotation of 360°). It is designed such that one can load one (1) or twelve (12) rockets simultaneously.

The materials used to manufacture the rockets are available in Senegal. However, this adventure's research and design works have been fully funded for 10 years by Serigne Mactar BA himself. Thus, the last rocket, Skimikamiya-30P, the 30th model he has designed, cost him about 2 million CFA francs (€3,048).

The rockets can be used to rapidly transport insecticides for locust control, to load measurement devices and cameras, in cartography, in meteorological research to induce artificial rains, etc.

Given the current state of research and achievements, rockets designed by Serigne Mactar BA should have reached a performance level that would ease their mass production, provided he is supported by local authorities and, why not, by Senegalese and African private entities.

The stakes are high because the mass production of these rockets would create several jobs and give more value to certain scientific disciplines, thus fostering Africa's technological sovereignty. Indeed, the design of a rocket brings together a set of technologies and trades that can be cascaded to other application fields:

- Theoretical Mechanics for ballistics,
- Materials Resistance for the rocket's structure,
- Thermodynamics for the working of the engine,
- Machining for the manufacture of various parts,
- Chemistry for fuel and oxidizer,
- Electricity and Electronics for ignition and data control,
- Computer science for design software, etc.

After "Troposphere", a made in Congo-Kinshasa rocket, Senegal, with its Skimikamiya-30P rocket, also wants to believe in the space adventure thanks to Serigne Mactar BA.