Africa

Vodafone and Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite (LEO) communications initiative, announced a collaboration through which Vodafone and Vodacom plan to use Project Kuiper’s network to extend the reach of 4G/5G services to more of their customers in Europe and Africa. In addition, Vodafone and Vodacom plan to use Project Kuiper’s high-bandwidth, low-latency satellite network to bring the benefits of 4G/5G connectivity to areas that may otherwise be challenging and prohibitively expensive to serve via traditional fiber or microwave solutions.

Space in Africa, a media, consulting, and analytics company, has published the 2023 edition of its African Space Industry Report. The report projects the African space economy to grow by 16.16% to USD 22.64 billion by 2026, and with the remarkable spurt in the economy in 2022, the industry is on track to reach this target.

Greetings, SpaceWatchers, and welcome to Summer Listening Week Four! Summer is upon us, and as our gaze shifts towards the stars during those warm, clear nights, SpaceWatch.Global brings you its third collection of the Summer Listening Series. Based on the vote by our newsroom, we have mapped out an interstellar journey across five categories. After the Moon, Climate - Space - Earth and Trendsetters, this week is the turn of  “Space Debris and Regulations.”

In this third episode of Space Economy Insights, Kevin O’Connell interviewed Dr. Zolana Joao, Director General of the Angolan National Space Office and Architect of Angola’s Space Strategy.  Dr. Joao has a background in electrical engineering and a doctorate in engineering management from George Washington University, with a focus on productivity and efficiency in large, complex space projects.

Nature data specialist Space Intelligence will map two African nations to support integrity and transparency in the carbon markets. The maps for Kenya and Tanzania will help to provide a baseline for all Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) projects which aim to stop unplanned deforestation in the countries. Furthermore, the standards agency, Verra, will approve the maps. To ensure accuracy and validity, the maps will comprise two levels of data: a set of Forest Cover Benchmark Maps covering 2010-2020 and point-based Activity Data showing the precise location of deforestation.

Greetings, SpaceWatchers, and welcome to Summer Listening Week Three! Summer is upon us, and as our gaze shifts towards the stars during those warm, clear nights, SpaceWatch.Global brings you its third collection or the Summer Listening Series. Based on the vote by our newsroom, we have mapped out an interstellar journey across five categories. After the Moon, Climate, Space and Earth this week is the turn of  “Trendsetters in the Space Sector.”

Intelsat and MaxIQ Space, a company in space-focused STEM education, have now completed this year’s STEM Space program with student project presentations and an awards ceremony. The innovative program, which Intelsat sponsors, has made major strides in inspiring and empowering young African participants who are looking to be future innovators and industry leaders in the African space sector.

An international team of astronomers, including the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), the University of Cape Town (UCT), and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), have discovered a rare type of white dwarf pulsar. This is a rare type of spinning white dwarf star in a binary star system., and it provides a new understanding of the role of magnetic fields in stellar evolution.

In the latest (13th) “Space Café Law Breakfast with Steven Freeland”, host Prof Steven Freeland, Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University, and Co-Host Torsten Kriening, SpaceWatch.Global’s Publisher, welcomed Ruvimbo Samanga and Dr Antonino Salmeri to a fantastic breakfast discussion at a café in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

The Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS) and the Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop in Rwanda in support of the space agency’s drive to harness emerging space opportunities.