Luanda - The Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Media, Mário de Oliveira, said Tuesday in Luanda that Angola expects to have a meteorological satellite, with a view to strengthen weather and climate monitoring in the country.
The minister made the statement at the 3rd edition of the NewSpace Africa (Africa Space Conference 2024) taking place in Luanda, underscoring that, in addition to the meteorological satellite, Angola will move on to the earth observation satellite, taking into account the extent of the national territory.
"We already intend to have a meteorological satellite, but we're going to move on to an earth observation satellite, because our country is vast and has a great potential for natural resources, especially oil, agriculture and the environment," the minister said.
The minister spoke of the importance of having the collaboration of academia, which must play a crucial role in achieving the recommended goals that includes the conception of an observation and meteorological satellites.
Mário de Oliveira highlighted the establishment of the African Space Agency as an important sign for the development of the industry, which is beginning to show its first results.
At the national level, the minister recalled that the Angolan government began to take its first steps 15 years ago, in collaboration with international partners, with the aim of developing the national space industry.
The minister said the steps led to the development of the National Space Program, which culminated in the orbiting of a communications satellite (Angosat-2), with the contribution of Angolan staff trained at international universities.
Former Minister of Higher Education of Burkina Faso and Leader of the BurkinaSat-1 Project, Fréderic Ouattara, on his turn emphasized that his country has local capacity for space issues.
Fréderic Ouattara underscored the existence of three axes linked to poverty reduction, through training in training schools with special segments and the use of data, qualifying students.
He went on to say that the other axis is focused on the assembly of complements, to have a satellite, testing and launching, as well as the ground station that has already been designed with the involvement of university students through professional and graduate training, involving internships.
On the occasion, the acting president of Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Islam Abou El-magd, said his country is a bit advanced in the space program and that the progress made in space technology is essentially due to the infrastructure the country has built.
He said that the existing facilities in Egypt are available to share with other African institutions linked to space.
"We can produce satellites that can be launched, we just need to strengthen these infrastructures. We have different laboratories that support the different space stations," the Egyptian official said.
He added that in the academia and human resources area, more than 400 space programs have been created in the country, which will make it possible to create the space ecosystem available to Egypt and the continent.
The third edition of New Space Africa, in which the world's largest space agencies are expected to take part, runs from April 2 to 5.
It will analyze how technology can be used to resolve poverty in Africa, in the sense of the transformative potential of space technology in issues related to agriculture, health and security.
NASA (US Space Agency), the European Space Agency (ESA), SANSA (South Africa) and KSA (Kenya) are also taking part in the event.
The event also brings together representatives from 54 countries, including emissaries from NASA, the European space agency, as well as Russia and China.
HM/QCB/DAN/AMP
