UK Space Agency funds DETECT, satellites monitoring project to fight malaria

The UK Space Agency will use satellites to detect mosquitoes and use drones to eliminate them safely. This initiative should help fight malaria in Guyana. Destroying disease-carrying insects will prevent further malaria spread without causing any harm to Guyana wildlife.

UK Space Agency Satellites to Detect Mosquitoes

This project is a joint initiative from several universities across the globe, including University of Stirling, University of Guyana, Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health, and North Rupununi District Development Board.

As of today, the UK Space Agency already funded £483,000 into this satellites monitoring project. Its goal is to prevent malaria spread without any disruption to the environment.

Carol-Ann Marcus, one of the project managers, stated that the ultimate goal of this project is to detect mosquito breeding sites with satellites. Later, sprayer drones will be used to eliminate mosquitoes and only mosquitoes. This program will be implemented in high-risk areas where an outbreak of malaria is most likely.

The Malaria-fighting project already supported by UK Space Agency has started on August 1st 2020, and should continue until March 2021. Today, the highest-risk region is Yupukari Village in North Rupununi. There, BrainStreet, one of the project participants, will build an ICT hub that should analyse the environment and help local students avoid this disease.

The main purpose of a local council board on this mission is to help design and fine-tune the DETECT satellites system, along with the UK Space Agency.

This satellites monitoring project is not the only international initiative from UK Space Agency, which recently took an active part in fighting global challenges.