Space Exploration Research Agency is to launch the first Nigerian civilian into space. This is a huge development for Nigeria’s space exploration program, making it the first nation in Africa to accomplish this feat.
SERA’s co-founders, Joshua Skurla and Mr. Sam Hutchison, revealed in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday that the project has been solely funded by SERA and does not have any financial support from the federal government.
They added that a democratic process would be involved for selection Nigerians would choose an individual to represent them in this historic journey.
Skurla made emphasis on the purpose of SERA, which is to increase wide knowledge of the advantages of space exploration and to grow private sector involvement in the field.
Nigeria has a long history of space exploration, aided by a capable space agency and a crowd of gifted scientists, engineers, and researchers. The nation is a desirable partner for SERA because of its entrepreneurial culture and how good it is in mining and agriculture.
“Nigeria has much to gain from space exploration, and we believe the private sector should consider how space can fuel business growth.” Hutchison stated.
“Resources are limited on our planet, but in space, they’re abundant. Hundreds of thousands of asteroids—composed of materials like platinum, nickel, tungsten, and rare earth elements—float freely, waiting to be tapped. Nigeria cannot afford to look away from these resources in space. The nation must key in.” the duo said.
The project’s legality is assured by the collaboration with the Nigerian Space Research and Development Agency. In addition to making history, the first Nigerian astronaut will become popular throughout the world and return to grow the country’s economy.
SERA emphasized how inspiring space exploration is. They declared, “This is the right moment to spark that inspiration by offering concepts like our mission.”
“This mission opens a new chapter in Nigeria’s space journey. With a strong Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics culture and entrepreneurial spirit, the possibilities are boundless,” the duo stated.
The opportunities are unlimited when combined with an entrepreneurial mindset and math culture, they said. The capabilities of Nigeria were emphasized when the they had separate interview with PUNCH Online, where they spoke to Dr. Anne Agi, President of Learn Space Foundation, a non governmental organization that promotes space exploration in Nigeria and is in charge of persuading SERA to choose Nigeria as one of its beneficiary nations and facilitating the partnership process. Speaking about the many advantages of space exploration and technology, she advised Nigeria to think about putting in place a space vehicle launch pad, similar to an airport for planes, which bring in investors and generate revenue from satellite launches and data services.
“Nigeria should consider building a launch site for space vehicles, similar to an airport, to attract investors and generate income from commercial activities in the space economy, such as launching satellites and providing data,” she noted.
The Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Uche Nnaji, emphasized on Nigeria’s dedication to human spaceflight while signing the Memorandum of Understanding between SERA and the Federal Government on Wednesday in Abuja.
“Our aspiration isn’t random; it’s a core objective of the Nigeria Space Policy and Programme,” he stated. “Reviving and implementing abandoned national plans aligns with our Renewed Hope Agenda,”
The dream of human spaceflight becomes a reality as Nigeria aspires to the stars, giving the future generations a reason and purpose in the process.
Dr. Matthew Adepoju, the Director-General of NASRDA, stated that SERA had footed all of the costs that comes with sending a Nigerian into space and that this event shows the start of the agency’s efforts to carry out a portion of its roadmap aimed at establishing a human space.
At a time when Nigeria was celebrating the 25 years of its space program, the minister said that the occasion was worthy of celebration.
“The Human Spaceflight Programme is one of the cardinal objectives of National Space Policy and Programme.
“It was with this in mind that we established the Department of Physical and Life Sciences about three years ago to forge this mandate.
This is also coming as one of our deep space explorations because there are many spinoffs that will come from the collaboration and opportunities opened for Nigerians,” the minister stated.
In a bid to start up a leading space industry, Nigeria in 2016 declared that it will launch a human into space by 2030. This launch will be the first-ever manned space mission by an African country in space exploration history.
Up until the current partnership with SERA, the National Space Research and Development Agency had made a promise to Nigerians that it was committed to working with its Chinese partners to create the ground breaking project.
