Current space developments in Nigeria
Space exploration used to be a luxurious means of technological and technical might for the United States of America and the defunct Soviet Union until other developed nations realized the potential of space technology in navigating real-life national challenges and improving the conditions of living on earth and its economy.
They realized that materials discovered in the space world can be well used as a tool to address national challenges. Nigeria, among other developing nations also followed suit, directing their substantial resources to exploit outer space programmes for socioeconomic gains, as well as national pride among the committee of nations.
Few people know — or remember — that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) built the first satellite earth station in Nigeria the NASA Tracking Station 5, in 1961 in Kano to monitor the Gemini and Apollo space missions. But the station was closed in 1963 before both missions were concluded in 1966 and 1972, respectively.
In 1976, at an ECOWAS meeting in Addis Ababa, Nigeria first declared its space ambition, and it took about 23 years to set up a space agency. In May 1999, the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) was established.
Currently, Nigeria’s space programme is managed by NASRDA. And in 2000, the National Space Policy (NSP) was approved, and a 25-year roadmap for its implementation was endorsed in 2005.
However, its progress is currently not on track with what NASRDA had envisioned. In the 2005 road map, Nigeria stated its main goals were for the Nigerian program to: manufacture a Nigerian satellite; have a Nigerian astronaut; and create a Nigerian launch vehicle to launch Nigerian-made satellites from a spaceport located in Nigeria.
As of today, however, there are no Nigerian astronauts or training programs, and the only goal that has been accomplished has been the manufacturing of a Nigerian satellite.
Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL) is the only law firm in Nigeria with a practice group dedicated exclusively to space law. OAL has a long history of working with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), the National Assembly, policymakers, and, in particular, the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) to help strengthen the legal, institutional, and regulatory framework that governs Space in Nigeria.
This includes reviewing and analyzing the current space policy and creating a new policy that covers more aspects of space activities, (e.g. military policy, public policy, commercial policy); harmonizing national laws with principles in international law and ensuring all areas/aspects of space activities are covered by domestic legislation.
As recent as 2021, OAL wrote to the Minister of Science and Technology proposing the need to review Nigeria’s space policy and the legal framework for space administration in light of growing private sector interest in space and in order to attract investments and development. Read More…
