In a first for sub-Saharan Africa, a commercial Earth observation (EO) satellite ground data-receiving station has been inaugurated in Ethiopia.

Located at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute’s (ESSTI) Entoto observatory and research centre in Addis Ababa, the 7.3m-wide station will receive optical and radar imagery from five Chinese-owned EO satellites.

It was built by HEAD Aerospace Group, a privately owned space company with headquarters in Beijing.

According to ESSTI director-general Abidssa Yilma, the ground station establishes the institute as a ‘geospatial hub for meeting the national demands in satellite imagery for various applications for agriculture, national security, urban planning, water management as well as cadastral mapping’. He adds that the ground data-receiving station will provide revenue for the country by selling data to neighbouring nations.

25 May 2021
Image: Gallo/Getty Images