Kenya will have a national policy on space science — a speed-up to develop the country into “a regional hub for exploration of outer space”, an official said Tuesday.
Collette Suda, Principal Secretary for State Department of Science and Technology, said that a space science policy is being fine tuned by a team of experts from state-run agencies of education, defense, environment, foreign affairs and other industries.
Kenya requires modern infrastructure alongside sound policy and regulatory framework to promote space science, the official said.
Kenya is among four African countries that have dedicated huge resources to developing space science, Suda said, adding the country “has produced a number of space scientists.”
“Several Kenyan universities are offering space science as a separate discipline and the treasury has pledged resources to develop a modern space agency,” Suda said.
Margaret Maimba, chief scientist with National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation, said capacity building and development of infrastructure will anchor space science in Kenya.
“We require massive resources to establish a robust space science infrastructure. The benefit will be huge and spread across diverse fields like medicine, agriculture, security and biodiversity management,” Maimba said. Enditem
Sorce: Xinhua