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Egypt to Launch NExSat-1 from China by End of Year

 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)
 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)
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Egypt to Launch NExSat-1 from China by End of Year

 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)
 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)

As part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to promote satellite technology in Africa, Egypt is preparing to launch the NExSat-1 satellite from China at the end of this year.

CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) Sherif Sedky said that the NExSat-1 will be launched from China by the end of 2023 after successfully completing all tests in Germany.

In statements to the Egyptian Middle East News Agency (MENA) on Friday, Sedky said that the agency’s current plan aims at acquiring satellite technology and establishing a “satellite constellation”, a group of artificial satellites working together as a system, with the aim to contribute to strengthening Egypt’s leading role in Africa in the space science and technology domain.

The plan also “serves the goals of African Development Agenda 2063, and activates the role of the Egyptian Space Agency as an economic body, by providing specialized services in the field of design, assembly, integration and testing of satellites and high-resolution imaging services,” according to a government statement.

Sedky noted that NexSat-1 will be launched from a station in China during the coming months of November or December, following EgyptSat-2 satellite, which is set to be launched in October.

Earlier this month, Sedky met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to discuss the launching of the MisrSat 2 satellite, which Egypt received in March.

The remote sensing satellite was subject to tests at the agency’s assembly and integration center, which is based in the New Administrative Capital. Those included electrical tests, dynamic loading simulation of the satellite’s space model, electromagnetic harmony test, simulation of space environment, and communication tests.

Sedky has said that the agency’s plan to launch many satellites aims at reinforcing Egypt’s pioneering role in the field of space technology and sciences in Africa.

The parliament approved last month a decision by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, which he signed on Jan. 24, to host the headquarters of the African Space Agency in Egypt.

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Arab World

Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
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Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)

Sudan's army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at war with paramilitaries, has announced a cabinet reshuffle that replaces four ministers including those for foreign affairs and the media.

The late Sunday announcement comes with the northeast African country gripped by the world's worst displacement crisis, threatened by famine and desperate for aid, according to the UN.

In a post on its official Facebook page, Sudan's ruling sovereignty council said Burhan had approved replacement of the ministers of foreign affairs, the media, religious affairs and trade.

The civil war that began in April 2023 pits Burhan's military against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries under the command of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Since then, the army-aligned Sudanese government has been operating from the eastern city of Port Sudan, which has largely remained shielded from the violence.

But the Sudanese state "is completely absent from the scene" in all sectors, economist Haitham Fathy told AFP earlier this year.

The council did not disclose reasons behind the reshuffle but it coincides with rising violence in al-Gezira, south of the capital Khartoum, and North Darfur in Sudan's far west bordering Chad.

On Friday the spokesman for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he condemned attacks by the RSF on Gezira, after the United States made a similar call over the violence against civilians.

Among the key government changes, Ambassador Ali Youssef al-Sharif, a retired diplomat who previously served as Sudan's ambassador to China and South Africa, was appointed foreign minister.

He replaces Hussein Awad Ali who had held the role for seven months.

Journalist and TV presenter Khalid Ali Aleisir, based in London, was named minister of culture and media.

The reshuffle also saw Omar Banfir assigned to the trade ministry and Omar Bakhit appointed to the ministry of religious affairs.

Over the past two weeks, the RSF increased attacks on civilians in Gezira following the army's announcement that an RSF commander had defected.

According to an AFP tally based on medical and activist sources, at least 200 people were killed in Gezira last month alone. The UN reports that the violence has forced around 120,000 people from their homes.

In total, Sudan hosts more than 11 million displaced people, while another 3.1 million are now sheltering beyond its borders, according to the International Organization for Migration.