Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, has said Nigeria will soon go into space.
He spoke at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA), Delaware, United States, on human space flight.
Nnaji said: “I will like to welcome our friends from SERA. Your aspiration to democratise space exploration and exploitation for countries is noble.
“Human space flight has been a key objective for our nation. National Space Policy and Programme (NSPP), approved by Federal Executive Council in 2001 identifies human space flight as one of its three pillars.
“According to the 25-year roadmap approved in 2005 for implementation of NSPP, our first human space flight was scheduled for 2018. This means we are six years behind.
“In an effort to correct past delays and align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, we have revitalised Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and its parastatals since I assumed office. The signing of this MoU is a testament to our efforts in the past months. As part of this mission, SERA has reserved six seats on an upcoming New Shepard launch. This initiative will see six individuals (from six countries, including Nigeria), potentially becoming the first astronauts from their countries.”
Director General of NASRDA, Dr. Matthew Adepoju, said: “We pride ourselves as the premier space agency in Africa. This is not a mere statement. When the agency was established on May 8, 1999, not many nations in Africa could dream of having a space programme. We are today the only space agency in Africa, whose activities cover the whole chain of the space eco-system. We have a strong footprint in outer space exploration and exploitation, and leading in remote sensing. Our activities in launch vehicle development can also not be matched by any country in Africa.”
Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Esuabana Asanye, said: “I am delighted to be part of this history making event. I do not know how to say thank you, Ann Agi, the director of Learn Space Foundation. What we learned this morning was that they were in a conference where they needed six people to be in space, and she was able to make a case for Nigeria.”
SERA co-founders, Joshua Skurla and Sam Hutchison, said: “This is a milestone moment in development of our university. We have built a human spaceflight programme in partnership with Newport, to promote access to space, and we are building this by way of a programme in other countries that had previously no access to space.”