The conquest of space also continues in Africa
The launch of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope in the city of Carnarvon, South Africa, on December 5, 2022. © ESA ALEXANDER / REUTERS
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3 mins
The African continent also has its eyes turned towards the sky and does not want to miss out on the conquest of space.
While the African Union (AU) has adopted a space policy since 2016, and created, two years later, an agency to coordinate its strategy, different countries are advancing their pawns.
In recent weeks, several space projects have been launched.
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With our correspondent in Johannesburg
,
Claire Bargelès
It is no longer surprising to see South Africa
multiply space projects
, with an industry already well established in the country and the launch of the first African satellite in 1999. But Pretoria took a step further, last month, by announcing the construction, in partnership with NASA, of a ground station in the Karoo region: it will make it possible in particular to monitor the missions of the Artemis program of the American agency, which ultimately aim to send again two astronauts on the Moon.
Not to mention that the construction of the “
Square Kilometer Array
” (SKA) has just been officially launched.
It will be the largest radio telescope in the world.
It should see the light of day by 2028, with installations in the country and in Australia.
The continent is not left out
But on a smaller scale, other countries on the continent
do not want to stay on the sidelines
, and are also launching their projects with external support.
This is for example the case of Zimbabwe and Uganda, which, with the help of Japan, were able to send the first satellites in their history into space, in order to collect data for weather monitoring and agriculture.
A total of 14 African countries have already launched their satellites.
Other countries such as Botswana also plan to send theirs by 2023.
In Zimbabwe, criticism was quick to mount after the launch of the satellite, stressing that the country, plunged into an endless economic crisis, should have other priorities than the conquest of space.
For Temidayo Oniosun, director of "
Space in Africa
", a Nigerian company that follows space programs in Africa, this is an "unfair" indictment.
“
We hear these criticisms every time an African country launches a satellite,
he annoys
.
Namely: why would such a country embark on the construction of a satellite when there is so much poverty?
".
Knowledge transfer
In his view, these satellites can bring a lot to developing countries, particularly through the training of engineers and the transfer of skills.
Temidayo Oniosun also points out the advantages of these technologies.
"
An observation satellite is very useful for monitoring, for example in agriculture
," he says.
There are many areas where they can be used, to examine land use, or to manage security issues.
The field of application is wide.
As for telecommunications satellites, they allow the rural areas of these countries to be better connected.
»
The aim of these projects is to train engineers in these countries.
Temidayo Oniosun, director of "Space in Africa"
Claire Bargeles
At the recent
US/Africa Summit
, Rwanda and Nigeria were the first countries on the continent to sign the Artemis Accords, a set of agreements drafted by NASA and the US State Department to establish a framework for cooperation for future space explorations.
► Also to listen to: the series of reports “Space, a new African frontier”
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