 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Special Interview Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters A place in space
Amira HoweidyThe construction of the nation's first satellite ground image receiving station will be completed in 12 months, making possible the relay of information from remote-sensing satellites. The station will be of great assistance in the fields of development. Added significance lies in the fact that it is the first stage of an ambitious space programme, whose ultimate target will be the building of a remote-sensing satellite.
The project's orchestrators -- scientists in the Remote Sensing and Space Science Authority (RSSSA), an affiliate of the Ministry of Scientific Research -- argue that, despite Egypt's status as a Third World country, it has the potential of achieving this ambitious objective.
Located in the southern governorate of Aswan to assist in the government's "Development of the Southern Valley" plan, the station will consist of a dish, six or seven metres in diameter, and a small computer-equipped building for analysing the relayed images. A foreign company was awarded the construction contract in a bid organised by the RSSSA two weeks ago. The construction cost is estimated at LE15 million.
According to RSSSA officials, 30 per cent of the station's equipment will be manufactured locally. The Egyptians will also be provided with the complete construction and operation know-how of the station.
The station, which will be the second in Africa -- the first being in South Africa -- will pick up images over an area of 2,500 square kilometres in Africa, the Mediterranean and parts of Asia.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, RSSSA Chairman Adel Yehia said the station will make a significant contribution to development projects, especially in the south of the country. Moreover, he said, it signals Egypt's determination to secure a position in the "space age".
"In the near future, everything will be controlled from outer space. And outer space will be controlled by the countries that are capable of developing space technology. If we don't begin now, there will be no place for us," Yehia said. The Egyptian objective, he explained, is not merely the transfer of technology but, rather, the development of technology.
According to Yehia, the Egyptian space programme consists of four stages: constructing satellite ground image receiving stations, building labs in the RSSSA, manufacturing a remote sensing satellite by a foreign company, and then developing a 100 per cent Egyptian-made satellite.
Prominent space scientist Farouk El-Baz, with the Boston Remote Sensing Centre, will have a significant contribution to make to the Egyptian programme.
The images picked up by the satellite ground image receiving station will help scientists gain a better understanding of the topographical nature of Egypt. This includes monitoring the movement of sand dunes in the desert, locating subterranean water, identifying the nature of soil, the condition of crops, the location of buried antiquities, "and almost every aspect of nature within the detection zone," said Bahieddin Argoun, head of the RSSSA space department.
Argoun, author of the book Outer Space and its Peaceful Uses, argued that Egypt has scientists who are qualified to carry out this ambitious scheme. He recalled in the book that Egypt had manufactured the H-A-300 jet engine, as well as the Cairo-200 training jet and the Cairo-300 jet fighter. "So why shouldn't we be able to carry out our space programme successfully?" he wrote.
Although the satellite ground image receiving station is a development-oriented project, many will view Egypt's decision to launch its space programme as also a means of protecting national security. Indeed, officials have voiced concern about the impediments obstructing the transfer of technology. Only last week, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa argued that protecting national security was necessary in view of the restrictions on the transfer of technology and the attempts to monopolise it. Egypt, he said, is determined to confront the "incessant arbitrary attempts to obstruct the technology transfer."
