Egypt inaugurated on Sunday the headquarters of the African Space Agency (AfSA) in the Egyptian Space City in Cairo.
“Egypt has made extensive efforts to establish the agency, which embodies the vision of ‘The Africa We Want’ outlined in the African Union’s Agenda 2063,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said at the inauguration ceremony.
He emphasized that the agency will serve as a platform for enhancing cooperation among African countries in the peaceful uses of space, exchanging expertise, building capacities, and unifying African positions in international forums, particularly within the framework of the United Nations.
Abdelatty also highlighted the importance of the agency’s openness to cooperation with research institutions, universities, and international space agencies, which would contribute to establishing a strong African base in space science and technology.
For his part, Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency, said the inauguration of the AfSA marks a significant milestone in the history of Africa.
“The AfSA will serve as a beacon of innovation, collaboration, and progress for all African nations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Huan Yiheng, cofounder of MinoSpace, a Beijing-based company focusing on the engineering of advanced small satellites, said the agency is an important platform for African nations to jointly develop their space technology.
“We want to explore potential cooperation with the AfSA and other African countries,” Huan told Xinhua.
Following its inauguration, the AfSA will be the primary entity coordinating Africa’s space cooperation with Europe and other international partners. A central objective of AfSA is to enhance space missions across Africa, ensuring optimal access to space-derived data, information, services, and products.
Egypt was selected as the host nation of the AfSA in 2019 by the African Union after meeting the necessary political and technical criteria.