Ethiopia is in the final stages of launching its second remote-sensing satellite into space on December 20 this year from China’s Taiyuan Spacecraft Launch Site, according to The East African.
Called ET-SMART-RSS, the satellite was designed by Ethiopian engineers in collaboration with China’s Smart Satellite Technology Corporation under an initiative which is co-funded by both countries.
Director-General of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI), Dr Solomon Belay said the satellite has improved resolution features that would enable it to capture and send high-quality images to its command centre in Addis Ababa.
Belay also said that Ethiopia plans to launch more satellites into space, including a communication satellite next year.
He was quoted as saying: “In the next 10 years, we will launch seven satellites including a communication satellite next year. We are planning to launch 10 more satellites in the next 15 years.”
Ethiopia launched its first satellite, named ETRSS-1, on December 20, 2019. It is used for the weather forecast, environment, and crop monitoring.
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