The Director General of the Nigerian National Space Research Development Agency has said Nigeria will send it first astronaut to space by the year 2015 and launch an indigenous satellite from the country without foreign assistance by 2018.
Many developing countries have embarked on programs to build spacecraft or launch vehicles in a bid to gain international prestige. Jeff Foust reports on how some believe the money spent on those projects could be better used for space technology applications that offer greater benefits for those nations.
Nigeria has launched their a remote-sensing satellite aboard a Russian rocket, propelling one of the poorest nations on earth into space for the first time. The government plans to use the $13 million satellite to monitor water resources, soil erosion, deforestation and natural or man-made disasters.
Nigeria plans to use advances in remote sensing, weather forecasting and satellite communications "for the exploration and exploitation of our mineral resources, and the development of information and communication technologies" according to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nigeria, one of the world's poorest countries, is to launch its own space program in the form of an agency that will develop rocket and satellite technology, Transport Minister Ojo Madueke announced on Wednesday.