Rwanda aims to position itself as a regional hub for space technology, with key projects designed to support national development priorities and regional collaboration, according to Gaspard Twagirayezu, the CEO of Rwanda Space Agency (RSA). ALSO READ: Govt pushes space ambitions with new satellite hub Speaking during the inaugural episode of RSA Pod, a new video series by the agency released on April 15, Twagirayezu outlined the country's growing projects in fields such as agriculture, telecommunications, urbanization, and healthcare, all powered by space technology. WATCH: Rwanda Space Agency: 4 Years On, Where Are We? Teleport According to Twagirayezu, the country has set an antenna in Rwamagana District to serve as a ground station in RSA’s teleport site. The ground station is an infrastructure that supports communication between Earth and satellites in space. Rwanda plans to establish a regional satellite assembly, integration, and testing hub (AIT) by 2028, ensuring self-reliance in the development of satellites in the country and the region. Satellite operators always need to talk to their satellites, primarily to check on their health, to see how they are doing, but also to give them commands, and sometimes download data that they are collecting in space, Twagirayezu said. ALSO READ: Hyperspectral satellites could usher Rwanda into a new era “We want to develop the teleport to make sure that even if there are other operators who want to put antennas in this region to be able to operate their satellites, we want to make sure that they can also come and establish at our teleport.” The infrastructure available at the teleport includes internet, electricity, data storage, office space, and other amenities that satellite operators may need to be able to run a ground station. Twagirayezu, who is also the former minister of education, said that they want to set the teleport as a way to position Rwanda as a hub for ground station infrastructure within the equatorial region. “So, the government of Rwanda has invested in the teleport because we want to be able to cover the infrastructure gap in ground stations that exists within the equatorial region,” he added. “Meaning all the different operators who want to operate their satellites from this region, we give them access to the antenna, and they are able to use it to talk to their assets in space.” National Geospatial Hub This is an infrastructure that aims to house or store geospatial (geographical location) data of the country. Twagirayezu said that the government wants to make sure that they build efficiency in terms of how government institutions use, procure, and house geospatial data. “We want to make sure that we are enabling our space ecosystem to be able to use that data to build applications,” he said, pointing out that once the infrastructure and accompanying technology are complete, government institutions will have access to data. “But also at the same time, we will have a research community and startup community be able to get that data, be able to build applications and be able to serve our communities,” he added. “We have made sure that we partner with the suppliers of the different geomatic software products. And this is to ensure that anyone, any government agency, any university or startup that would want access to that type of software can have can find it, can have those licenses in an easily accessible way.” Agriculture Twagirayezu said that with the use of space images and data, they have been working with the ministry of agriculture to build a comprehensive map of soil in the country that would allow the ministry, farmers, and other actors in the sector to look up their plots, and different farming areas. ALSO READ: TRL space systems builds satellite for agriculture, environment monitoring “And then they can understand the property of the soil and therefore be able to know what type of crops are more suitable for that area,” Twagirayezu added. Urbanization He said their project in urbanization includes making applications that can help entities like the City of Kigali or any other city to enforce the construction sector and know people who are building and when, and assisting permitting processes.
