Africa space institutes join China’s moon plan
The ambitious project aims to construct a permanent base on the moon by the 2030s
Two more African partners have joined the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) initiative, which aims to build a permanent base on the moon by the mid-2030s.
Ethiopia’s Space Science and Geospatial Institute (SSGI) and the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have this month signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on ILRS-related cooperation with China. Their participation follows more than a dozen organisations – including the national space agencies of South Africa and Egypt – aiming to be part of the ambitious plan.
On April 5, Hu Zhaobin, deputy director of China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, signed the MOU with SSGI director Abdissa Yilma in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, according to the lab’s WeChat account.
During their meeting, Yilma said the institute would actively participate in the construction of the ILRS. Hu said he hoped the project would help boost the development of Ethiopia’s aerospace sector and space exploration technologies.
Then on April 8, Hu signed the cooperation agreement with KAIST acting principal Jennifer W. Khamasi during his visit to Konza Techno City south of Nairobi.
KAIST council chairman Emmanuel Mutisya, also at the meeting, said the institute would take advantage of the research and education opportunities brought about by the collaboration with the ILRS. He told Hu that KAIST would push the Kenyan government to join the project.
Hu invited both Yilma and Mutisya to the International Conference on Deep Space Exploration, known as the Tiandu Forum, to be held in China in September.
These latest partnerships were formed during the lab’s trip to the NewSpace Africa Conference in Angola in the first week of April. At the conference, Hu’s keynote address included the first public call for African nations and organisations to join the ILRS initiative.
So far, the ILRS has nine country members: China, Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa, Egypt and Thailand. Nato country Turkey has reportedly applied to join. It also has a number of members which are research institutes, universities or companies.
The US-led Artemis programme, which is often seen as a rival to the ILRS project, now has 38 countries that have signed on to its Artemis Accords.
The SSGI was established in 2016 to boost space science and technology activities in Ethiopia. KAIST, currently under construction, is modelled after the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. It aims to nurture highly qualified scientists for Kenya’s modernisation.