China has helped Ethiopia to launch its first-ever satellite into space. This a deal breaker for the country as the earth observatory satellite is designed to help the East African nation gather data for agricultural, mining and environmental protection.

“Ethiopia has joined the effort to seek knowledge and information from space,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said in a congratulatory message to Ethiopians.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• Although this is the first major effort by Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy said the country would send up more satellites in collaboration with other countries, without giving details.

“This is a day we became one of the 70 countries in the world that operate a satellite from space,” said Ahmedin Mohammed, an official with Ethiopia’s Innovation and Technology Ministry. “The next step is to launch a communication satellite and also set up a space materials assembly and manufacturing facility here in Ethiopia.”

• AFP reports that Ethiopian space officials stated both Ethiopian and Chinese engineers took part in the construction of the 72 kilogram (159 pound) satellite that took three years.
• The actual cost of the satellite was $8 million, of which $6 million was covered by China, said Ethiopian officials. 
• By this launch, Ethiopia hopes to save up to $11 million a year by using their own satellite data.
• The satellite was sent into space from Shanxi Province in China. Ethiopian and Chinese officials monitored the launch from a command and control center set up in the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa. They watched a video stream from China.
• Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is credited with starting the satellite program three years ago while he was Minister for Technology.

A Look At The African Satellite Space

Only about ten countries, including Ethiopia have been able to shoot satellites into the space. Nigeria has already launched four satellites into space, with three still operational and one deorbited after completing its objectives. The country’s first earth observation satellite, NigeriaSat-1, was launched in September 2003. Launched by Kosmos-3M rocket from Russian Plesetsk spaceport, it cost the country $30 million. That was followed by the launch of Africa’s first communications satellite, NigComSat-1, built and launched in China in 2007. Other African countries in the satellite space include South Africa which in December 2018, launched the continent’s most advanced nanosatellite into space to monitor and manage disasters such as fires and assist the ocean economy. South Africa’s first was the TshepisoSat, which was launched in 2013, according to theSAASTA.

Angola’s first satellite was launched in December 2017 but declared defunct by Russia four months later. Ghana’s first satellite was launched into orbit in 2017 from the International Space Station. In February 2019 the EgyptSat-A high-resolution earth observation satellite was launched into space by Egypt. 

In May 2018, Kenya launched its first satellite into orbit. One of the most active African countries in space technology, Algeria has six satellites in orbit. The most recent launch was in 2017 when the Algerian Space Agency launched a telecoms satellite into space in cooperation with China.

In late 2018, Morocco launched its second surveillance satellite, the Mohammed VI-B, from the spaceport in French Guiana in cooperation with French company Arianespace. 

Working with a U.K.-based company OneWeb, Rwanda launched, in February 2019, Icyerekezo, the first-ever satellite that connects remote schools to the internet, according to Face2FaceAfrica.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world