By E&T editorial staffPublished Monday, November 26, 2018Ethiopia has announced its plans to launch its first satellite during 2019, from a site in China. The satellite will help improve weather monitoring in the East African country. Although th...
By E&T editorial staff
Published Monday, November 26, 2018
Ethiopia has announced its plans to launch its first satellite during 2019, from a site in China. The satellite will help improve weather monitoring in the East African country.
Although the continent of Africa has lagged behind wealthier continents in its space programs, in recent years a number of national space agencies have been established and are growing quickly. These include the South African National Space Agency, which focuses on using satellite data to avert natural disasters, and which has its own astronauts; Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency, which has launched five satellites; and the Ghana Space Science and Technology Centre, which coordinates space research across the country.
Last year, the African Union supported a space policy calling on the region to adopt satellite communications for economic development, along with a continental space programme. So far, seven African countries have launched satellites.
The Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI) first announced plans to launch a satellite during its establishment in 2016. Now, ESSTI has announced that the satellite – the country’s first – will be launched in 2019 from a launch site in China. The observation satellite will be used to improve weather monitoring in Ethiopia.
“The satellite will be launched from China, while the control and command station will be in Ethiopia,” said Dr. Solomon Belay Tessema, director-general at ESSTI, which is based at Addis Ababa University.
The design, development and manufacturing of the satellite cost an estimated $8m (£6.2m), with Chinese support making up approximately $6m (£4.7m) of the total cost. However, Belay Tessema said that the majority of the preliminary and critical design was done by a group of Ethiopian engineers, with China helping to provide training for the project.
“Our main goals for launching this first satellite are two. The first is to build technology application capacity and skills of our engineers through collaborations with different countries’ space scientists and institutions,” said Belay Tessema, in a statement. He said that a second satellite would be designed, built and launched independently.
There are approximately 60 students – including several international students – partaking in Ethiopia’s space program. These students are based at the space institute in Addis Ababa, as well as at the Entoto Observatory and Research Centre, which is based at the summit of Mount Entoto. This position allows for the observation of both North and South hemispheres.
