NIGERIAN scientists and engineers can now design, develop and launch satellites from the Nigerian soil.
This is according to the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MSTI).
Director-General NASRDA, Dr. Halilu Shaba who made the disclosure said the country had developed the capacity.
He also said that in terms of capacity to launch, Nigeria had reached 10,000km and would reach 36,000km.
Shaba said this at the NASRDA Day event held in Abuja at the Technology and Innovation Expo 2022, organized by the Federal Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (FMSTI).
He said, “Now I can tell you that we have developed the human capacity to build satellites, any country that achieves it, celebrates it even when they fail. It’s only that in Nigeria we don’t know how to celebrate our soft targets. It is important to note that with the development of this capacity, Nigeria can now build satellites in its own space and ground and we are developing the capacity to launch, we have reached 10,000kms, we have the intention of reaching 36,000kms.
“We are on time and it is deliberate where we are. We have also achieved the development of satellites, the building, design, and development of satellites based on that, we developed the heritage which brought about the Nigerian SatX, we bought Sat1, Sat2 and Nigerians were part of the building but Nigerian SatX was entirely developed by Nigerian engineers, so we achieved getting the satellites and getting people who are trained to build it.
“We have successfully applied space science technology to several activities in the country. We’ve applied it to FADAMA information, agriculture, water resources security, environment and a lot more. The Nigerian, digital economy will only be successful because we have satellites.
“Presently, we are training and retraining with the hope that anytime we get the resources, we will build our own satellite on our own soil. On the aspect of our expired satellite in orbit the government is not quiet about it and we have been working to see that it is replaced, you know satellites have years they spend in orbit, ours was due for seven years which is now over nine. What I wanted Nigerians to see is the engineering fit, when you build something to last for seven years and it lasts for over nine, you will want to imagine that you have increased the durability, now we know that when building the next one we want to build it for a longer period.
“We are using our satellites for security but anything that concerns security is not in the public but I can tell you that we are using the satellite and the military will be in a better position to tell you what they are doing with it but I can tell you that we are using the satellites effectively.”