Tech-Agro, technology applied to agriculture, Tech-Gest, used by AGT for property tax and residence control, and Tech-Minas, applied to the diamond mining sector, are some of the technological tools used by Angola in terms of space sciences, the coordinator of the national space education program of the National Space Program Management Office (GGPEN) revealed yesterday to Jornal de Angola.
Lumonansoni Eduardo André, who spoke on the occasion of the International Day of Human Spaceflight, established by the UN General Assembly and celebrated today, stated that the GGPEN is focused on generating knowledge, training and educating specialized personnel, as well as developing technologies and advising government agencies and private companies on space sciences.
Regarding space and atmospheric technology sciences, GGPEN has developed technologies that have assisted the Executive, such as for the Single Treasury Account (CUT), and which also has partnerships with AGT, ANPG, InfraSat, MS Telecom, which have purchased the services in order to expand throughout the country.
For the specialist, this represents one of the advances in space science in Angola, which is being led by the National Space Program Management Office, and they have also given training and lectures to raise awareness among the population, academics and students about the importance of implementing space sciences in academies and universities.
Investment in space sciences
According to Lumonansoni Eduardo André, studies say that by the year 2035, the global space economy could expand to 1.8 trillion dollars driven by advances in satellite technology, launch services and space applications and, by 2026, the African space economy is projected to grow to 22.64 trillion dollars.
For this reason, he stated, the Government, in a strategic manner, created the GGPEN so that this State body responsible for monitoring and managing the National Space Program can bring in these foreign currencies or earnings in order to contribute to the diversification of the economy and reduce dependence on oil.
The space strategy of the Republic of Angola, he stressed, aims to guide the country towards investment in space, with a view to ensuring the effective use of its benefits and the money raised is part of the benefits that can position the country in an international context.
The Angolan Government, he stressed, through its National Training Plan for the space sector, has trained, inside and outside the country, at the highest level several specialists to ensure and guarantee that this investment helps the national economy, with the purpose of promoting and encouraging the transfer, dissemination and development of space science and technology, using knowledge acquired for the benefit not only of the country, but also of other countries in our region.
Angola, the expert revealed, is among the three African countries, followed by Rwanda and Nigeria, that are part of NASA’s Artemis project, which is practically the return of man to the moon. And it demonstrates international recognition of the high-quality staff of the National Space Program and what GGPEN has done.
Lumonansoni Eduardo André said that space exploration is a set of efforts made by man in an attempt to study and explore the universe and its stars from a scientific and practical point of view, always aiming at the economic, social well-being and security of the populations.
But for such exploration to happen, he adds, it must be done by engineers, astronomers, unmanned robotic probes and manned robotics, which are space stations, satellites, among others.
To explore and study space, it allows humans to understand our place in the universe, as well as respond to different scientific and technological challenges that require data, for example, from Earth observation in more specific cases, in order to produce this data for Earth through satellites, probes, and so on. The advantages also involve subsidizing the development of research to transform this data into knowledge, and transform it into products, goods and services that can be marketed. All in the name of scientific and technological progress of nations in general and, in particular, of Angola.
The expert pointed out that GGPEN has developed products that use space technology such as technology applied to agriculture, technology applied to ecology for oil spills, technology applied to the diamond sector and for asset management that is used to control planet Earth under possible attacks from some space debris, such as asteroids and micro asteroids.
The International Day of Human Space Flight is important for humanity because it marks the beginning of the space race, about man’s desire to know what the space environment is like, about what happens to a human being outside of space and how we can benefit from using the technologies that can come from space.