Senegal successfully launched its first satellite into space on Friday, APS learned from an official source. The satellite called GAINDESAT took off at 6:56 p.m. precisely from the Vandenberg firing base in California, a state in the west of the United States of America, confirmed the Senegalese head of state in a message shared on the social network ''Senegal is entering a new era today with the successful launch of our first satellite, GAINDESAT-1A, at 6:56 p.m. precisely from the Vandenberg base in California,'' said Bassirou Diomaye Faye. This is the fruit of five years of hard work by Senegalese engineers and technicians, he insisted, evoking an advance marking a major step towards the technological sovereignty of Senegal. The President of the Republic did not fail to express his pride and gratitude to those who made this project possible. Source: Burkina Information Agency