Senegal launches space agency

Senegalese President Macky Sall announced Tuesday the creation of an agency for space studies, which, he believes, will drive further discoveries of the universe.

“I decided to create the Senegalese Agency of Space Studies on which I exchanged for more than a year with Maram Kaïré during our meetings,” Sall said prior to the preview of “Star chasers of Sénégal” documentary.

Maram Kaïré, a Senegalese astronaut, will head the agency. Sall counts on the support from Europe and the USA.

“Star chasers of Sénégal” is produced by Ruth Berry and co-produced by U.S. science television “Nova-PBS” and “Terra Mater” of Vienna, Austria, tells a story on Senegal’s contribution to NASA’s scientific missions.

For Sall, Africa must be ”present in this adventure of understanding our universe and the solar system.”

“Every day, thanks to space studies, we discover new realities and knowledge for the understanding of our place in this universe,” he added.

In September, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Cheikh Oumar Anne, reiterated the country’s plans to launch the nanosatellite in the third quarter of 2023.

The country in 2019 laid out a timeline to build and launch its first satellite and set a two-year actualization timeframe for the project.