عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Tunisian President Hails Launching of First Homemade Satellite

President Kais Saied accompanied by TelNet CEO Mohamed Frikha after launching the first homemade Tunisian satellite. AFP
President Kais Saied accompanied by TelNet CEO Mohamed Frikha after launching the first homemade Tunisian satellite. AFP
TT
20
TT

Tunisian President Hails Launching of First Homemade Satellite

President Kais Saied accompanied by TelNet CEO Mohamed Frikha after launching the first homemade Tunisian satellite. AFP
President Kais Saied accompanied by TelNet CEO Mohamed Frikha after launching the first homemade Tunisian satellite. AFP

Tunisian President Kais Saied has hailed the launching of the first homemade satellite into space.

Challenge-1, built by a team from telecommunications giant TelNet, blasted off along with 37 other satellites aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.

Saied joined engineers and journalists to watch the launch of the satellite live on screen at TelNet headquarters in Tunis.

“Our real wealth is the youth who can face obstacles,” Saied said, stressing that Tunisia lacks not resources but “national will” amid its dire social and political crises. “We are proud of our youth.”

This satellite will allow communication and data exchange in many areas including control, transport, agriculture and logistics by receiving data and sending it to suppliers around the world, TelNet explained.

It is designed and developed by exclusively Tunisian skills, TelNet CEO Mohamed Frikha told AFP.

This is a gift to the Tunisian people on the 65th anniversary of the country’s independence, he added.

Tunisia has become the first country in the Maghreb and the sixth in Africa to manufacture a satellite after Egypt, South Africa and Ghana, according to Space in Africa website.

The Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) flew six different satellites in communication, earth observation and scientific missions and is currently developing its “AlSat 3.”

Morocco, meanwhile, launched two satellites into orbit in cooperation with the Franco-Italian consortium Thales Alenia Space and Airbus.

Tunisia is suffering from an economic crisis and skyrocketing unemployment even before the coronavirus pandemic, and recent months have seen growing anti-government protests.

Several thousand engineers leave each year to seek work abroad.

“We are very emotional, after three years of intense work," said engineer Haifa Triki, 28, who followed the flight live from Tunis. “We made a lot of sacrifices, but it was worth it.”

“Job opportunities exist in Tunisia. The problem is to make young engineers want to stay,” she added.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Kabbashi: Sudan War Nearing End, Arms Proliferation Poses Major Threat

Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)
Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)
TT
20
TT

Kabbashi: Sudan War Nearing End, Arms Proliferation Poses Major Threat

Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)
Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)

The war in Sudan is nearing its end, a top military official said on Saturday, warning that the widespread availability of weapons could pose one of the biggest threats to the country’s stability in the post-war period.
Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, told state governors in the temporary capital of Port Sudan that arms proliferation is a “major danger awaiting the state.”
“The areas that have been retaken must be handed over to the police for administration,” Kabbashi said, stressing that civilian policing, not military control, should take over in recaptured territories.
He also pointed to the need to redeploy troops currently stationed at checkpoints and security outposts in liberated regions. “We need these forces on other frontlines,” he said.
Kabbashi described the rise in hate speech triggered by the conflict as “unacceptable” and warned that Sudan would face deep social challenges once the fighting stops.
According to Kabbashi, the Sudanese armed forces are in a strong position after initial setbacks at the start of the war, as the military seeks to shift focus to restoring internal security and supporting civil governance in liberated areas.
“The situation of the armed forces and supporting units is more than good,” said Kabbashi. “We were in a bad place at the beginning of the war — now we are more than fine.”
Kabbashi added that army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is highly focused on ensuring public safety across the country, calling security “a top priority, ahead of all other services.”
He warned, however, that Sudan faces deeper challenges beyond the battlefield. “The plot against Sudan is bigger than the militia we’re fighting — they are only the front,” Kabbashi said, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) without naming them directly.
He pointed to rising crime, widespread weapons, and looting as major security threats that emerged during the war, saying state authorities would have a significant role to play in restoring order.
Kabbashi urged state governors to back police forces in their efforts to maintain law and order, emphasizing that police support is “urgently needed” during the current transitional phase.