mulwanaka
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 19, 2017
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*Tanzania and other three countries to lead Africa into SPACE*
African countries have not yet announced sending anyone into space, but reports from Pretoria, South Africa, indicate the African race into outer space is gaining momentum and Tanzania is among four African nations leading the way.
The continent’s second Science Forum was hosted by South Africa In Pretoria on 8 December, 2016. It was announced at this forum South Afrca, in partnership with three other African countries, is working on launching its second nano satellite.
Currently, the continent has only one nano-satellite in space, which was launched three years ago. Officials also confirmed that the continent’s miniature satellite is still alive, adding that need existed for Africans to put more nano-statellites in space.
Nano satellites are tiny satelites that can look like anything from a match box to the size of a beer crate, but they are equiped with antenas, solar power collectors and cameras on board; and they have capacity to take pictures from space for use on earth.
Scientists say the positive side of these tiny high tech eyes in space is that they are cheeper to launch into space, although the downside is that the pictures they send back to earth are not in high resolution.
Humbulani Mudau, the Director of Space Science and Technology at the South African Department of Science and Technology said:”As an African country we want to develop our own space policy. We are currently engaged in bilateral talks with other countries. We also established the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) to understand our strengths. But we need more young people to be trained in this field. And we need to position our industries to be globally competitive,”
But South Africa is not operating alone in their space programme,accordng to Mudau, but as part of the African Space Programme, Andiswa Mlisa from the Group on Earth Observations identified countries already involved as Nigeria, Algeria and Tanzania whose current involvement related to the training of engineers and research collaborations.
African Heads of States adopted the African Space Policy and Strategy on 31 January 2016 in Addis Ababa. This formed part of the African Space Programme. It is also one of the flagship programmes of the AU Vision and Agenda 2063.
African governments see this industry holding the potential to become the next economy, officials said, adding that the continent has been investing a lot into space technology even though any space programme is capital intensive.
Naledi Pandor, the South African Minister for Science and Technology, said SANSA was currently working on a second satellite and that the African continent was very positive about implementing an African space programme.
“This is also why this science forum is so important because we want to ignite conversations around science and technology, as well as looking at the role science should play in our society and especially on the African continent,” the minister said. “We want to ensure that science and technology and innovation contributes fully to Africa’s growth and development.”
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African countries have not yet announced sending anyone into space, but reports from Pretoria, South Africa, indicate the African race into outer space is gaining momentum and Tanzania is among four African nations leading the way.
The continent’s second Science Forum was hosted by South Africa In Pretoria on 8 December, 2016. It was announced at this forum South Afrca, in partnership with three other African countries, is working on launching its second nano satellite.
Currently, the continent has only one nano-satellite in space, which was launched three years ago. Officials also confirmed that the continent’s miniature satellite is still alive, adding that need existed for Africans to put more nano-statellites in space.
Nano satellites are tiny satelites that can look like anything from a match box to the size of a beer crate, but they are equiped with antenas, solar power collectors and cameras on board; and they have capacity to take pictures from space for use on earth.
Scientists say the positive side of these tiny high tech eyes in space is that they are cheeper to launch into space, although the downside is that the pictures they send back to earth are not in high resolution.
Humbulani Mudau, the Director of Space Science and Technology at the South African Department of Science and Technology said:”As an African country we want to develop our own space policy. We are currently engaged in bilateral talks with other countries. We also established the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) to understand our strengths. But we need more young people to be trained in this field. And we need to position our industries to be globally competitive,”
But South Africa is not operating alone in their space programme,accordng to Mudau, but as part of the African Space Programme, Andiswa Mlisa from the Group on Earth Observations identified countries already involved as Nigeria, Algeria and Tanzania whose current involvement related to the training of engineers and research collaborations.
African Heads of States adopted the African Space Policy and Strategy on 31 January 2016 in Addis Ababa. This formed part of the African Space Programme. It is also one of the flagship programmes of the AU Vision and Agenda 2063.
African governments see this industry holding the potential to become the next economy, officials said, adding that the continent has been investing a lot into space technology even though any space programme is capital intensive.
Naledi Pandor, the South African Minister for Science and Technology, said SANSA was currently working on a second satellite and that the African continent was very positive about implementing an African space programme.
“This is also why this science forum is so important because we want to ignite conversations around science and technology, as well as looking at the role science should play in our society and especially on the African continent,” the minister said. “We want to ensure that science and technology and innovation contributes fully to Africa’s growth and development.”
Sent using Jamii Forums mobile app
