This collaboration, which is coming to the country, marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s 25th anniversary of Space Exploration journey.”
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The Federal Government will soon send Nigeria’s first citizen to space.
This is according to the Director General (DG) of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Mathew Adepoju, who made the announcement at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
The DG said the government has signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in collaboration with NASRDA and the Space Exploration and Research Agency.
He explained, “This collaboration, which is coming to the country, marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s 25th anniversary of Space Exploration journey and opens new opportunities for scientific research and technological advancement.”
This move signifies the NNigeria government’s rekindled interest in space exploration. In 1999, it established NASRDA, and has since launched several satellites into orbit, the most recent being the NigeriaSat-X in 2011.
NASRDA was established on May 5, 1999 by the Federal Government under the leadership of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to establish a “fundamental policy for the development of space science and technology” with an initial budget of $93 million.
Nigeria’s first satellite, NigeriaSat-1, was launched on September 27, 2003, and on August 17, 2011, a replacement, NigeriaSat-2, the most powerful imaging spacecraft ever sent into orbit, was launched. An equivalent satellite, NigeriaSat-X, was co-launched with NigeriaSat-2 at the Yasny military base in Russia.
On May 13, 2007, the country’s and Africa’s first communications satellite, NigComsat-1, was launched at an overall cost of USD 300 million. It deorbited on November 11, 2008, and a replacement, NigComsat-1R, was launched on December 19, 2011.
In May 2006, the new extended national space programme was adopted.NASRDA has launched four satellites of its own, the first one in 2003 and the last one in 2009.
The cost of both satellites was USD 48.4 million, including launch and insurance. NigeriaSat-1 cost the country USD 13 million. Both NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X have a design life of seven years.
Six years after it had outlived its design life, NigeriaSat-1 was decommissioned by engineers and scientists of the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, in 2014 and burned up in a controlled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.