A Space Engineer, Brig. Gen. Michael Agu (Rtd), on Tuesday, underscored the need for the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) to build Nigeria’s space competence for global competitiveness.
Agu, who was the pioneer National Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Space Engineers (NISEng), said this in an interview in Abuja.
According to him, part of the space competence facilities is establishing an Assembly, Integration and Testing Laboratory (AIT) for satellite designing, manufacturing and testing.
He said that the Nigerian space ecosystem and NASRDA had the requisite manpower to roll out space products and services.
“Looking at the entire space industry value chain, starting from launch services and operating a satellite,and the application, NASRDA is there already.
“Part of the challenge, however, is that they don’t have the AIT centre to package their design. This has been an issue for a while but there is the eagerness.
“The skilled workforce they have should be put into use. Space has different areas and the global space ecosystem is highly competitive.
“Besides operating a satellite, a space agency can be engaged in different things, like manned space flight, unmanned space flight and sending of space porks into space.
“It also includes operating a space station and NASRDA should be looking up to these.
“With the achievements and skills available to NASRDA and the Federal Government, we can dominate the world and our presence in space has made Nigeria a space competent state.
“It is, however, left for us to develop that competence to the level to go beyond operating a satellite,” he said.
Agu stated that all the building blocks for NASRDA to excel and compete globally were available, adding that the industry was a highly competitive industry that required lots of knowledge and power.
On the achievements of NASRDA, the former chairman said space had so many compartments, which included space products and services, space infrastructure, space economy and space workforce, among others.
Scoring NASRDA high in space infrastructure and space workforce, Agu stated that space product and services should be dependent on the support they got from government to roll out the necessary products.
He, however, said that the agency had the requisite manpower to roll out space products and services, including satellites.
“NASRDA has grown, it is well established and they have all the necessary building blocks to take the space industry to the next level in Nigeria.
“I see Nigeria as one of the 15 topmost countries in the world in terms of space competitiveness, and that will depend on different factors and also a step-by-step approach.
“We will have to set objectives and work towards attaining the objectives now that we have both civil space and defence space.
“NASRDA should convert any weaknesses into strength and any threats to their progress into opportunities,” he said.
NAN
