Basic space sciences in Africa

Abstract

Through space applications, a number of social and economic programmes in education, communications, agro-climatology, weather forecasting and remote sensing are being realized within the African continent. Regional and international organizations and agencies such as the African Remote Sensing Council, the Pan-African Telecommunication Union and the United Nations system have been instrumental in making Africa conscious of the impact and implications of space science and technology on its peoples. The above notwithstanding, discernible interests in space research, to date, in Africa, have been limited to the work on the solar system and on interplanetary matters including satellite tracking, and to the joint African-Indian proposal for the establishment of an International Institute for Space Sciences and Electronics (INISSE) and the construction, in Kenya, of a Giant Equatorial Radio Telescope (GERT). During this “Transport and Communications Decade in Africa,” Africa's basic space research efforts would need to initially focus on the appropriateness, modification and adaptation of existing technologies for African conditions with a view to providing economic, reliable and functional services for the continent. These should include elements of electronics, communications, structural and tooling industries, and upper-atmosphere research. The experience of and collaborative work with India, Brazil and Argentina, as well as the roles of African scientists, are examined.