The Egyptian Parliament approved a draft law entailing the establishment of an Egyptian Space Agency, under the umbrella of the Egyptian presidency and it will have financial and administrative dependency.
According to the draft law, the headquarters of the agency will be in Cairo. The agency will be responsible for “developing the sciences and technology of airspace in order to acquire skills to build and launch satellites from Egyptian lands serving the state’s strategy in its development plans and to achieve national security.”
It will be assigned to set the strategy of the state in the fields of space technology and approve a roadmap for future space projects.
According to state-owned news agency MENA, Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said that “establishing the Egyptian Space Agency is not just a law that is passed, but is an Egyptian dream.”
He added that “in July 2018, an Egyptian-made satellite will be launched with the participation of Japan, but 70% of its components will be Egyptian and it will be made by Egyptian engineers.”
He also said that a research unit will be established with the aim of constructing all products needed for the satellite by Egyptian hands. He also said that the ministry will aim to attract Egyptian experts in this field who are living abroad.
The agency will have a high board, which will be headed by the President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and will include members like the prime minister, defense minister, interior minister, communications minister, finance minister, the head of the General Intelligence Service, and the head of the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation.
In October 2007, Egypt launched its first observational satellite with Ukraine for scientific research. However, communication with the satellite was lost.
