space xSenegal’s first artificial satellite connected to a SpaceX launch vehicle in August
One by one, the satellites were separated from their mothership, covered in a hodgepodge of solar panels and other equipment.
They took off from Earth an hour earlier, on August 16th. Most of the 116 satellites aboard the launch vehicle were designed and built by Western countries and companies, but one was different.
This was the first such spacecraft developed by the African country Senegal.
The small CubeSat, called GaindeSAT-1A, provides Earth observation and communication services. Senegal’s president called this a major step towards “technological sovereignty.”
Kwaku Suma, founder and managing director of space consultancy Spacehubs Africa, says the cost of launching satellites has come down significantly in recent years.
“Cost reduction has opened up the market,” he added. “These small countries… now have an opportunity to participate.”
Kwaku Suma
Lower space launch costs offer opportunities for African countries, says Kwaku Suma
To date, a total of 17 African countries have placed more than 60 satellites into orbit, and in addition to Senegal, Djibouti and Zimbabwe have also seen their first satellites enter service over the past 12 months. Dozens of African satellites are expected to enter orbit in the coming years.
However, the continent currently does not have its own space launch facility.
Moreover, other world powers are likely using Africa’s nascent space programs as a means to build relationships and assert their own geopolitical advantages more broadly.
Can more African countries get their own way on track and beyond?
“It’s important for African countries to have their own satellites,” Suma said. That means better control over technology and easier access to satellite data, he argues.
This information could help Africans monitor crops, detect threats posed by extreme weather events such as flooding, and improve communication in remote areas, he added.
But in Africa, daring to go into space is still seen as “something for the elite,” says Jesse Ndaba, co-founder and managing director of South African satellite design firm Astrofica Technologies. say. She added that her company’s overall performance remains “very slow.”
Given the enormous threat that climate change poses to the continent, she suggests that space technology should be used to monitor food and resources. By contrast, an African space race to reach the moon or Mars would be useless. “We have to look at the challenges that Africa has and find ways to solve them.”
For Sarah Kimani of the Kenya Meteorological Department, satellites have proven invaluable in helping her and her colleagues track dangerous weather conditions. She recalls using Earth observation data provided by Eumetsat, a European satellite agency, to monitor a major dust storm in March. “We were able to see the direction of this sandstorm,” she says.
Later this year, she and her colleagues will begin receiving data from the latest generation of Eumetsat spacecraft, which will provide wildfire and lightning monitoring tools and other benefits. “This will help improve our early warning system,” Kimani added, noting that cooperation with Eumesat is “very efficient and effective.”
Climate change poses meteorological threats that can emerge quickly, from major storms to extreme droughts. “The intensity of these hazards…is changing,” Kimani said, adding that satellite data, which can be updated every five minutes or less, can help meteorologists track such events. Point out that it is deaf.
She also argues that Kenya, which put its first operational Earth observation satellite into orbit last year, would benefit from having more of its own weather observation satellites in the future. The same is true for other African countries in general. “Only Africa understands our needs,” says Kimani.
Sarah Kimani
Kenya would benefit from having more satellites of its own, says Sarah Kimani
Currently, many African countries with young space programs rely on foreign technology and expertise, says Temidayo Oniosun, managing director of market research and consulting firm Space in Africa.
Some countries send students and engineers overseas to gain know-how in space technology. “The problem is that when they come back, we don’t have labs or facilities for them,” Oniosun says.
Senegal’s new satellite was built by Senegalese engineers. Without wishing to diminish their important work, it is worth noting that the development of the satellite was made possible through a partnership with a French university, and that the spacecraft was launched from California on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Worth it.
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Europe, China, and the United States have all been involved in numerous African space programs. While this certainly helped get African technology off the ground, it also served as an “important diplomatic tool,” Oniosun said. That makes him “a little concerned,” he admits.
Observers have suggested that Africa’s space program is not just about launching African countries into space, but is also, to some extent, an arena for the world’s most powerful countries to compete with each other.
Mr Suma is positive about the situation. “We can… pit these different forces against each other to get the best deal,” he says.
Officials in both the United States and China are considering the “strategic” implications of getting involved in African space exploration, said Julie Klinger of the University of Delaware.
“Therefore, there is an increasing need to update global treaties and strategies for maintaining a peaceful and manageable space environment,” she added.
But there are also opportunities. Dr Klinger said space launches from equatorial regions – which may not require as much fuel – could mean African spaceports would play an important role in the coming decades. Pointed out.
For example, the Luigi Broglio Space Center, an old spaceport built by the Italians with a maritime platform off the coast of Kenya, could one day resume operations. The last launch took place in the 1980s.
Ultimately, we can expect to see an increase in space activities by African countries. “We currently have close to 80 satellites in development, so I think the future of this industry is very bright,” Oniosun said.
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