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Zimbabwe is looking for Russian assistance to build its own spaceport and send its first astronaut into orbit within the next decade, according to Painos Gweme, the director of Zimbabwe’s National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA).
Gweme has stated that Zimbabwe has begun negotiations with Russia’s national spaceflight corporation, Roscosmos, about planned projects, including sending Zimbabwean Astronauts to Moscow’s cosmonaut training system. He said that “We expect that with the assistance of our Russian colleagues, we will be able to launch our own rocket into space within the next 10 years. We hope that our first rocket will be launched from our own cosmodrome. We have already begun working on plans, selecting a location whose natural conditions would be best suited for creating a launch complex.”
Last month, Zimbabwe launched its second earth observation satellite, ZimSat-2, into orbit from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur Region. The satellite is now operational in the Mazowe near Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, and was designed and manufactured jointly by ZINGSA and Russia’s Southwest State University. The technology is expected to boost mineral exploration and agriculture efforts by tracking crop health, yield forecasts, and nutrient deficiencies in a country where millions of people are facing hunger due to severe drought.
Numerous African countries have been developing satellite programs in collaboration with Roscosmos in recent years. In September, the Alliance of Sahel States, comprising Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, announced a joint project that would deploy a communication satellite and an Earth remote sensing satellite to gather space images for monitoring national borders and to reinforce domestic security.
During a meeting last year with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov announced that Moscow had extended an offer to Algeria and Egypt to participate in the construction of an orbital station. According to Roscosmos, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, and South Africa are Russia’s key partners in Africa, with collaborations on-going in space technologies, satellites and space travel and research.
Zimbabwe has been exploring ways to diversify its economy and tackle several challenges, including food security problems. In June, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa discussed his government’s intention to join BRICS with Russia’s President Putin in St. Petersburg, when both leaders also agreed to deepen their “excellent” ties in areas such as security, humanitarian aid, education, and trade.
The fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Zimbabwe and Russia was held in Moscow last month. On the sidelines of the three-day event, representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry held talks with Zimbabwean officials, and the parties agreed to expand mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment ties, and to cooperate in the areas of health care, medical education, science, physical education and sports.
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