Africa’s First Spaceport Set to Position the Continent in the Global Space Race

Africa is set to establish a $1B orbital spaceport in the Republic of Djibouti, positioning the continent in the global space race, making the first on African soil. This follows the signing of a partnership deal with Hong Kong Aerospace Technology to build a facility for launching satellites and rockets in the Northern Obock region.

Djibouti’s president, Ismael Omar Guelleh, presided over the signing of the preliminary deal, also to be done in partnership with Touchroad International Holdings Group, paving  way for the final agreement; a formal contract signing expected in April or May, following a visit to China by Djibouti experts.

Indeed, it’s a milestone for the continent which has been the only region in the world without a launch site. It’s a major project that will boost the economy of this desert nation in the Horn of Africa, and is projected to be built over five years.

The Spaceport will consist of seven satellite launch pads and three rocket testing pads. The project will also include the construction of a power grid, port facility and highway to oversee the seamless transportation of aerospace materials. Djibouti will avail the necessary land, projected to be a minimum 10 sq km with a lease of not less than 35 years coupled with all the necessary assistance to build and operate the Spaceport.

For the Spaceport to thrive, it is leveraging in its close proximity to the equator. Djibouti’s strategic location at the entrance of the Red Sea and its close proximity to the equator, renders it among the busiest trade routes in the world. In light of this, the US, France, Japan, Italy and China have overseas military outposts and naval bases in the country.

Additionally, the construction of the Spaceport will ignite the active development of space-based innovations, which will ultimately see to the expansion of Africa’s space industry.

Previously, small-scale trial launches have been executed, where several satellites such as Algeria’s Reggane and Italian-operated Broglio Space Centre dubbed San Marco in Malindi, Kenya were put into orbit until the 1980s.

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In January 2023, the African Space Agency (ASA) headquartered in Egypt, was set up to advance space exploration in the continent, through training and collaborations. Major economies have long dominated this field but the tide has been changing steadily, and Africa is among the regions on the cusp of the ‘golden age’ of space exploration.

Africa’s space industry is a billion dollar sector. According to the 2022 edition of the Africa Space Industry Annual Report, the African space economy in 2021 was valued at $19.49 billion, and is projected to grow by 16.16% to $22.64 billion by 2026.

The industry employs over 19,000 people across the continent and has 300 space companies. Nonetheless, African countries have lower budgets to drive space exploits given the mountain of challenges the continent still faces.

Africa space programme budget

For context, the combined African Space programmes budget allocation in 2022 was $534.9 million compared to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA’s) $29.20 billion and the Japan Aerospace Agency (JAXA) $1.12 billion for the same year. Space tourism coupled with deep space exploration still remains far-fetched for African countries.

The report also identified satellite communication as vital in bridging the connectivity gap in Africa as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) services and the satellite TV segment remain the most significant contributors to the African economy. Besides, space exploration democratization on the continent is now gaining momentum, as developing nations in Asia and Africa improve their capabilities through bilateral agreements.

Globally, 2022 was a significant year that marked key advancements in space exploration such the inauguration of the James Webb Space Telescope. More prominently, China’s Tiangong space station was completed and so was the NASA Artemis 1 mission. Some key missions slated for 2023 include the ‘dearMoon project’ which will make for the first deep space tourism launch taking members of the public on a six-day trip around the moon and back. However, this is dependent on the launch of Starship, the largest spacecraft capable of transporting humans from earth to space.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) in April. This will be Europe’s first dedicated robotic mission to Jupiter, projected to become the first spacecraft ever to reach orbit around the moon of another planet.

NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security – Regolith Explorer (ISIRIS-Rex), is scheduled to return to earth in September, having been on a robotic mission to acquire samples of the golden space rock ‘Bennu’. India’s first private company satellite launch is also scheduled for 2023, by Skyroot Aerospace which also launched its Vikram-S rocket in the last quarter of 2022.

Benefits of Space Technologies to African Countries

Space technologies has been revolutionizing African economies through applications in different areas such as agriculture, disaster management, environmental management, transport, natural resource management. Given the continent’s geographic location in terms of accessing space, it’s the best-placed to track and monitor satellites. African space satellites have contributed to the success of several missions outside the continent, via strategic partnerships with foreign space programmes.

The first images from Mars are credited to have come via a satellite in South Africa, attributed to the country’s geographical position in the Southern hemisphere, which makes it strategically positioned to receive transmissions from deep space.

Nigeria’s Sat-1 was the first of the disaster monitoring constellation (DMC) satellites to capture the harrowing events of hurricane Katrina while Egypt’s Sat-1 has been providing vital planning data for Southern Europe, East Africa and the MENA region. Kenya’s 1KUNS-PF additionally comes in handy especially in weather forecasting.

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Into the bargain, these technologies and innovations have been rapidly advancing daily life, making modern lifestyles dependent on space products and services. Ultimately, they continue to create jobs, reinvigorate businesses and advance economies. Besides, they greatly aid in weather forecasting, whereby geostationary orbit satellites provide daily weather reports, monitor climate-related cycles and offer a platform for fast communications across the globe to relay multimedia, live occurrences.

Moreover, this swift communication is critical for tele-medicine and tele-education. Professionals in urban areas can deliver both health services and educational content to rural and remote areas. Similarly, banking transactions by financial institutions are dependent on telecommunication satellites, as they act as the communication conduit between an automated teller machine and the data servers located at the bank. T

he US and China have especially been aiding African governments in advancing their space capabilities, towards the realization of socioeconomic and environmental benefits. For instance, the US-based commercial enterprise SpaceX, helped South Africa launch its satellite using a Falcon 9 rocket.

Africa’s Progress in the Space Race

Africa is diving headlong into the space race, making bold advances in space exploration. Africa’s involvement in the race has narrowly been focused, on the development and launch of earth observation and communication satellites. The novel emergence of the private sector in a field historically dominated by governments has assisted developing nations to advance the global space economy in fields like space exploration, mini-satellites, space station building, and related technologies and innovations.

The African Union’s space policy and strategy is embedded in Agenda 2063, as one of its 15 key programmes, which guides the sector’s development and the nascent African Space Agency to fulfil its mandate.

Africa’s mark in the space race formally began in 1998, when the UN established the Regional Centers for Space Science and Technology Education in developing countries. In Africa, one was established in Nigeria for Anglophone African countries, whilst the other in Morocco for the Francophone countries.

The next year saw the launch of Africa’s first indigenous satellite Sunsat by South Africa. This sparked interest in space technology among other African nations. A decade and a half later, the African Space Policy and Strategy was adopted in 2016 by the AU which was proceeded by the approval of the ASA in 2021 with the goal to develop a sustainable space market that promotes the needs of the African continent. Africa now has 55 satellites in orbit, a dismal figure when pitted against the thousands launched globally, but 125 more satellites remain in development by 23 African countries ahead of 2025.

Given its strategic geographic location pertinently with perspective to access space, and the proximity to the equator, where minimal energy is required to launch satellites, East African countries have been identified as viable locations to harbor more spaceports. For instance Kenya has already settled on an ideal location, Marsabit County to establish a spaceport after Viwanda Africa Group, in collaboration with Longshot Space Technology, commissioned team of students to conduct a feasibility study. In addition, some 15 countries are located on or near the equator, the ideal location for launching rockets.

Some of the continent’s heavyweights, include Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria; already operating their own satellites. As of 2022, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Nigeria have the highest number of satellites, each having launched more than five. In light of this, with assistance from the Chinese, Egypt has built an entire satellite manufacturing, installation, and testing facility, laying the groundwork for the nation’s aerospace industry.

In 2021 and 2022 alone, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Angola and Uganda acquired new satellites. Nigeria and Rwanda were the first African nations to ratify the Artemis Accords during the 2022 US-Africa Summit. The US government signed this agreement with the support of 23 other countries in order to promote peaceful space exploration.

Furthermore, Sudan also successfully launched its first satellite for a scientific experiment and Algeria is set to launch its first commercial satellite; which will be in the same appearance as the Chinese BeiDou Centre in Tunisia, which was the first overseas Center in an expansion strategy of its BeiDou positioning system’s global service.

In 2021, Turkey had additionally, expressed the desire to establish a spaceport in Somalia, where it has a military site but this is yet to materialize given the status quo of the country, recently hit by a catastrophic earthquake. By effectively utilizing space science and technology to support and drive its developmental agenda, coupled with the right commitment, approach and investment, Africa can lift millions of citizens out of deeply entrenched poverty.

Moreover, Africa needs to promote uptake of STEM programs to students who will ultimately become professionals that can contribute to Africa’s space industry. Over and above, African countries should bolster investments in space-related technologies, collaborating on initiatives, and even constructing more launch facilities in future.