(Ecofin Agency) - The Egyptian Space Agency will send two new satellites into space in 2022. These are NExSat-1, intended for remote sensing and scientific research, and EgyptSat 2 which will be used for Earth observation. The information was announced last June 11 by Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, at the Euro-African Space Forum held for two days in Lisbon, Portugal.

The country wants to become a reference in the African space industry. "We aim to transform Egypt into a center for training, research and development in space activities [...] to develop and support emerging technologies, to disseminate the use of satellite images to support activities, especially in the field of agriculture, and to stimulate exploration and innovation," said Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.

On March 6, 2020, Egypt adopted a new 10-year space development plan, seven months after the establishment of the new space authority that has already piloted the launch of four satellites into space. Capacity building, development of space missions, modernization of facilities to support the growth of the commercial space industry, development of international cooperation, and development of a strong legal foundation are the pillars of the new space program.

Through this program, Egypt wants to break the dependence of most African countries on foreign infrastructure for communications, earth observation, meteorology, disaster management, etc. The country is seeking to move from customer to service provider and tap into the growing business opportunities offered by the sector.

Muriel Edjo