egypt's historical role in the advancement of space sciences and an audacious roadmap for the future of the egyptian space program despite major setbacks
- Paper number
IAC-19,B4,1,4,x52606
- Author
Mr. Mina Takla, United States, CosmoX
- Coauthor
Mr. Camilo Andrés Reyes Mantilla, Germany, Julius Maximilians Universität Würzburg
- Year
2019
- Abstract
Throughout history, Egypt played an integral role in the advancement of astronomy. Dating back circa 2000 years BC, ancient Egyptian Astronomy was conceived. The Ancient Egyptian civilization was among the first and oldest civilizations to study heavenly bodies and their relative movements across the sky. Egyptian Astronomy is believed to have influenced the ancient Greek and Arab civilizations during the Hellenistic and Medieval epochs. At around 200 BC, Alexandria became a center for Greek culture and from circa 900-1200 AD Greek and Arab scientists and astronomers, some of whom studied in Egypt, made numerous astronomical observations and ground-breaking discoveries. In latter-day Egypt, the nation that once taught the world astronomy and space sciences started lagging behind in those very disciplines. Although Egypt signed the UN Outer Space Law Treaty in 1967, serious plans to establish a foothold in space began taking shape when the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) was established in 1999. However, most of the plans for the Egyptian Space Program (ESP) seems to have failed to materialize owing to the political and economic instability in recent years, lack of proper funding, and the absence of a plausible, influential, and effective roadmap for the future of the nation in space. Egypt owned 6 satellites in total, of which 3 communication and 3 remote sensing. Egypt's NARSS trained its personnel and jointly manufactured the satellites with contractors in Russia, Ukraine, and Europe. NARSS lost control over 2 of its currently 3 remote sensing satellites in 2010 and 2015. Nowadays Nilesat operates 2 communication satellites and NARSS operates 1 remote sensing satellite that was just launched in February 2019. Egypt started taking serious steps when the president and the house of representatives agreed to establish The Egyptian Space Agency in 2018, and in 2019 Egypt got endorsed to host the African Space Agency. This paper offers new insights into Egypt's space capabilities and challenges the nation's status quo by moving forward to space despite all political, economic, and technical setbacks. In doing so, we will highlight the challenges that the nation faces and ineffective measures to tackle them. Then we will recommend innovative space 4.0 technologies, disruptive international Public Private Partnerships and business models, cost-effective smallsat projects/missions by students, and capacity-building efforts. Moreover, we propose a roadmap for the ESP that addresses the nation's most pressing needs and development goals. Per aspera ad astra, Egypt.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
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