Uganda is aggressively developing its indigenous space capabilities, with major upgrades at the Mpoma ground station and two new collaborative satellites in the pipeline for launch soon, according to Dr. Doreen Agaba, Team Lead of the Aeronautics & Space Bureau.
Speaking on NBS TV's SpotlightUG, a high-level media dialogue series, Dr. Agaba provided a detailed look at the nation's strategy, explaining how the historic 2022 launch of PearlAfricaSat-1 served as a critical learning platform that is now shaping the future of Uganda's space sector.
"PearlAfricaSat-1 was our technology demonstration and testing of capability development platform," Dr. Agaba explained. "The investment from the government... was to test our capabilities, test our methodologies, test our regulatory infrastructure and see how we would fare."
That test, she noted, yielded many lessons that are now being implemented. Key among them was the need to move from thinking of it as a project to building a sustainable sector and the challenge of managing multi-national stakeholders.
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Major Upgrades at Mpoma
Those lessons have directly translated into a multi-phase modernization of the Mpoma ground station. Dr. Agaba detailed three core upgrades currently in Phase Two of development:
1. Advanced Communication: The facility's equipment has been upgraded to communicate with more than three categories of spacecraft. Dr. Agaba noted this builds capacity for what is known as ground station as a service, allowing Uganda to commercially or collaboratively support satellites from other nations.
2. National R&D Laboratory: A space laboratory has been established on-site, a critical piece of infrastructure previously missing. This allows local innovators and private companies to test all these innovations in an environment that is simulated to be like space, including testing for temperature, vibration, and radiation thresholds.
3. Centralized GIS Data Hub: The bureau is setting up a center to coordinate the acquisition and management of satellite and drone imagery for all government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). "We are coming up with a framework for all of these ministries using GIS products and services to be able to coordinate," she said, providing a secure and localized data hosting service.
Building Human Capacity
To power this new infrastructure, Dr. Agaba said the bureau is taking multiple approaches to building a critical mass of local experts. This includes government-funded scholarships for specialized training abroad, as well as domesticating the program by infusing it into 10 co-opted universities.
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She stressed that the sector is multi-disciplinary, requiring not just engineers but experts in space law [and] space policy as well.
The Future: More Satellites, Data-Driven Governance
Looking ahead, Dr. Agaba confirmed that many more satellites will be developed, particularly by Ugandan youth. She announced that two collaborative projects are in the pipeline and will be launched soon, with universities also being encouraged to design their own satellites, no matter how long it will take.
In her parting shot, Dr. Agaba framed the bureau's ultimate goal: to achieve 100% uptake of space and aeronautic technology across all government sectors, from monitoring water bodies and mapping minerals to planning energy infrastructure.
The goal, she said, is to optimize planning and move the country towards data-based governance, reducing reliance on less efficient methods.
By hosting critical, forward-looking discussions with national experts like Dr. Agaba, NBS TV's 'SpotlightUG' continues to solidify its role as a premier platform for in-depth public discourse on Uganda's technological and economic development.
