After the recent Italy-Africa space conference in Rome, our government reiterated its intention to boost the development of space technologies on the African continent and that it ‘wanted to include space technologies and diplomacy in the Mattei Plan for Africa, convinced that they can make a very important contribution to promoting sustainable development that is open to the future, the future of the African continent and of our country,’ as stated by the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, who is also chairman of the Interministerial Committee for Space Policy and Aerospace Research.
At the heart of this strengthening and collaboration with the African Space Agency will be the relaunch of the Malindi base, the Space Centre dedicated to Luigi Broglio.
‘Initially used for launching rockets, 60 years ago it allowed Italy to become the third power in the world to reach space, and now we want it to become a training and education base for African countries,’ said Urso, recalling the history of the San Marco base wanted by Broglio and the Italian state in Kenya.
For Urso, the space base just outside Malindi will ‘benefit the entire continent and allow us to offer training and education activities to maintain the development of Africa's economy and security’.
Among the projects listed is the construction of a new building that will house an international space school open to all African countries, as well as a laboratory dedicated to CubeSat training and a space museum'.
The president of the Italian Space Agency, Teodoro Valente, said that, in addition to Kenya, bilateral agreements have been made with Algeria, Egypt and South Africa, and talks are underway with other nations on the continent, through three main pillars: education and training, space applications and services for a sustainable future, and international partnerships.
‘Already 59 satellites have been launched by 16 African countries and more than 125 satellites are being developed by 23 countries, with launches planned for 2025,’ Valente said.
As we have already seen and told you, during the recent Space Expo in Nairobi, Africa's interest in space is growing.
Satellites to be launched into space are seen as an important aid and development for agriculture, food and water security, urban planning, and disaster management, an area in which the Italian government, through its development cooperation agency, is already collaborating with Kenya, and together with the European Union has donated equipment and logistics.