CAIRO: Egypt is planning to launch two satellites in cooperation with China in 2021 and 2022.
One of the satellites will have high-resolution imaging capability, Mohamed El-Qosi, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency, said.
“China has provided Egypt with two grants, one for building a satellite collection center, and another for manufacturing a large joint satellite between the two countries. This is a result of strong political relations between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Chinese President Xi Jinping,” he said in a statement.
The project has been planned since September last year. “We have completed the first phase of the project, after which we will manufacture a satellite in Egypt and China at the satellite collection center, and the launch will be in September 2022,” El-Qosi added.
Egypt is involved in another project to manufacture a satellite with a German company, in which the Egyptian Space Agency has a 45 percent stake. The project has so far produced an educational satellite with more than one university within the Universities Moon Project, which will launch in July 2021.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Cairo has completed the first phase of the project, after which it will manufacture a satellite in Egypt and China at the satellite collection center. Its launch will be in September 2022.
• Another project to manufacture a satellite is with a German company, in which the Egyptian Space Agency has a 45 percent stake.
El-Qosi also revealed new details about an African space project, which aims to monitor climate change on the continent and boost community development.
He said that five countries are taking part in the project, including Uganda, Nigeria and Sudan. Egypt planned to host three space and satellite specialists, but the pandemic delayed the project.
“We will return again to the African Development Moon project after conditions get better,” El-Qosi said. Egypt is looking to boost its space industry through several construction projects, he added.
“We have started the construction process at the Space Agency headquarters, just as there are major foreign countries seeking cooperation with Egypt in the field of space because they see it as the gateway to Africa, including the European and French space agencies. They requested help in attracting African countries to cooperate with them by establishing an African alliance in the field of space,” El-Qosi said.
