Nigeria plans to develop, manufacture and launch its own satellite by 2030, according to Dr. Spencer Onu, the Center for Satellite Technology Development’s (CSTD) Director. He also added that the components needed for building the space artifact are presently being developed.
However, he also admitted that Nigeria still suffers from shortages in the application of space technology, specifically from the lack of space education in the country’s academic curricula: “Only Nigerian university has aerospace engineering—their program has been approved by the Council but has not yet started. Kogi State Polytechnic also had its own approved curriculum, but that department is yet to be initiated.”
Professor Mohammed Sheidu, the Director-General, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), is confident in Nigeria’s capacity to build the satellite: “The Center's engineers and scientists have demonstrated their capability by solely designing and manufacturing the Nigeria Sat-X, an Earth Observation satellite, using the facilities at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in United Kingdom (UK).”
