The Angolan space agency, which was established in 2013, is using space technology to map United Nations’ sutainable development goals in the country.
This according to Zolana Joao who heads the Angolan National Space Program Management Office (GGPEN).
Speaking to RFI on the sidelines of this year’s World Satellite Business Week in Paris, Joao said the country benefits from space technologies in many ways.
“Space technology can help in mapping and tracking United Nations’ sustainable development goals such as zero poverty, zero hunger and improved quality of education,” Joao said.
Citing an example, he pointed to the fact that Angola has been using satellites to connect people in the most difficult remote areas where they don’t have access to communications infrastructure.
Joao said that over the past 10 years, has gone from being a non-space faring nation to becoming one of 12 African countries with a space programme.
“So far we have launched two satellites. The one launched in 2017 [suffered] an orbital failure. Last October, we launched another satellite. It is a HTS (high-throughput satellite) which will be used for broadband connectivity in Angola and Africa,” he said.
Joao said the country’s space agency has also carried out a lot of work on building Earth observation labs that now support the Angolan government and offer information on key sectors of the economy.