![]() ![]() Satellites can also play a security role, monitoring foreign plundering of coastal fisheries and movements of jihadist rebels destabilising the Sahel and northern Mozambique.Īfrica was an early convert to satellite technology, which along with mobile phone networks helped it leapfrog over copper wire networks to move around data. The continent also accounts for nearly two-thirds of the world's uncultivated arable land, according to the African Development Bank - a crucial factor in how the planet can feed a human population expected to reach nine billion by 2050. Nearly half of Africa's population lives from farming, according to UN figures. A nanosatellite with a mass of between one and 10 kilos (2.2 and 22 pounds) can be built by African universities for between $50,000 and $100,000, he said.Ī top priority for African countries is Earth observation - satellites that monitor cloud cover, rainfall, flooding, drought and so on, said Mamadou Sarr, head of a pan-African group, the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RASCOM). ![]() "Space is no longer expensive, not at all," said Ouattara. The good news is that cost, the great barrier to entering space, is plummeting thanks to cheaper components and miniaturisation, which reduces satellite weight. The AU in 2018 fostered the African Space Agency, whose headquarters will be in Cairo alongside the Egyptian Space Agency, to promote coordination among AU members.Īccording to a Vienna-based NGO, the Space Generation Advisory Council, African countries have launched 41 satellites since 2016, led by Egypt, South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria.īut only nine were designed and made in African states, while the rest were provided by foreign states, which also provided launch capability. The two countries follow African pioneers South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt - a trailblazer which owned the first African satellite sent into space in 1998.Īccording to AU space programme coordinator Tidiane Ouattara, about 15 African countries have a space agency. In April, Kenya's first working satellite was put into orbit by a SpaceX rocket launched from the United States. Ivory Coast, which recently hosted a "NewSpace Africa" conference organised by the African Union, has announced the creation of a space agency and plans to build the country's first nanosatellite by 2024. After decades on the sidelines, African countries are venturing into the space industry, hoping to reap rewards in agriculture, disaster prevention and security.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |