Egypt has reaffirmed its commitment to developing its national space programme through various steps during the Egyptian Space Agency”s (EgSA) board meeting. Dr Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, on Monday, July 4 2022, chaired the meeting of the Board of Directors of EgSA, in the presence of Dr Mohamed Al-Qousi, the Executive Chairman of EgSA, and members of the Board, at the headquarters of the agency in the new administrative capital.
During the meeting, the Minister affirmed the importance of the Agency’s role in serving the space science field, localising the bio-industry, and building generations of technological progress. He also emphasised the Egyptian state’s interest in space and satellite technology for its vital role in achieving the SDGs. During the meeting, the Minister also noted the development of Human and scientific capabilities in the space industry, following various efforts to localise space technology in Egyptian universities and raise students’ awareness of and interest in disciplines and scientific programmes in satellite technology and space research.
The Board also discussed capacity-building projects for university education to spread science and space technology to university students. These projects include:
- The satellite project for university students;
- The summer training project for university students; and
- The project to assist university students in training in international space institutions abroad.
The minister pointed out the need for mechanisms to monitor what is being implemented in the hubs of the Egypt’s National Space Program by the Egyptian Space Agency. He also noted a similar need to monitor programmes that have been approved through a committee
The board also emphasised the importance of coordination between EgSA and both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to complete the operations of the Space City within 3 years. The results of the works of the Technology Gap Analysis Task Group were also reviewed. In this context, the minister addressed the board with his week-long programmes related to space technology to be introduced in
programmes of public and technological universities this year. Lastly, he called for a clear plan to improve the competence of staff, specialists and researchers.
