Ethiopia’s space program has also been one of the most active, having launched two satellites in the last three years, one of the most by any county in this period – wrote Joshua Faleti on Africa Space News.
Further the following key insights were mentioned by the writer:
- Ethiopia was the only African country that managed to launch a satellite in 2020, the ET-SMART-RSS, a small satellite built and launched with support from China. The nation also recently launched a New Multi-Satellite Ground Station.
- A 7.3 metres multi-satellite tracking and data receiving ground station that will receive data from five different Earth Observation (EO) satellites useful for various thematic applications.
- Furthermore, Ethiopia is one of the few African countries to own and operate an observatory. The Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI) manages the Ethiopian space programe.
In 2018 and 2019 fiscal year, Ethiopia space budget was USD 3.7 million and USD 5.69 million, respectively. However, in 2020, Ethiopia more than doubled the cumulative of the previous two years’ budget, allocating USD 22.2 million. In 2021 the space budget allowance was about USD 10.4 million.
In November 2021, the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives enacted a new proclamation 1263/2021 to re-establish a new institutional arrangement for the Federal Democratic Republic Government of Ethiopia. This new proclamation has merged both the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI) and the Ethiopian Geospatial Information Institute (EGII).
Ethiopia only recently joined the African nations that have launched a satellite after launching its first satellite, ETRSS-1, in December 2019 and year after launched its second satellite, ET-SMART-RSS.
Ethiopia and China have signed an agreement to build a third satellite – the Ethiopia ComSat – a communication and broadcast satellite. The satellite is set to be built in Ethiopia.
Source: Africa Space News
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