 "Blue Origin's rocket launces carrying passengers. Source: File Image / AP")
As the arena of space exploration expands, the Nigerian government announced that it is planning to send the first citizen to space. According to Nigerian news outlet, Premium Times, the Director General of Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency, Mathew Adepoju confirmed the news at a press conference in Abuja.
Adepoju said that the feat will be achieved in a partnership between his agency and the Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA).
“This collaboration, which is coming to the country, marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s 25th anniversary of Space Exploration journey and opens new opportunities for scientific research and technological advancement," the Nigerian official averred.
During the presser, Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Uche Nnaji said that the partnership is expected to accelerate the nation’s technological advancements and also inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers.
How is Bezos involved?
Interestingly, US-based SERA has a partnership with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. SERA will fund the seat on a Blue Origin flight to diversify the field of space exploration.
The partnership is part of a broader initiative with Blue Origin to send individuals from underrepresented nations into space. In the year 2022, the two agencies funded the seat of Victor Hespanha, a Brazilian engineer, to space.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSERA’s co-founders Sam Hutchison and Joshua Skurla told Semafor Africa that the Nigerian citizen will be chosen according to a public online voting process.
The qualification to be part of the endeavour is that the Nigerian national has to be a healthy adult resident with basic English language-speaking abilities. People can nominate themselves for the race as well. The votes will be eventually verified using a blockchain system to ensure a fair selection process, the founders said.
Nigeria’s history of space exploration
It is pertinent to note that Nigeria has been actively pursuing space exploration since 1999, when it established NASRDA, and has launched five satellites since 2003. Three out of these five satellites are still in orbit and are being used to deliver vital services.
The most recent among these satellites was the NigeriaSat-X which was the first one to be designed and constructed by NASRDA engineers, and more advanced models are in development.
The initiative also fulfils the promise made by the country’s former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu in 2016, to send a Nigerian astronaut into space by 2030.
“This would be a landmark achievement for Nigeria and Africa, which will encourage the rest of Africa to get involved,” Felix Ale, a NASRDA spokesperson told CNN. The African nation is known for sharing space assets, such as providing satellite imagery to Mali, and has supported the idea of an African Space Agency.
With inputs from agencies.