The Egyptian Parliament approved on Monday the draft law on establishing Egypt's first Space Agency to launch Egypt’s first satellite for scientific research.
During the Parliament’s session held on Monday, Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar told Members of the Parliament that, with the help of Japan and China, Egypt will be able to launch Egypt’s first satellite for scientific research in July 2018.
Abdel-Ghaffar said that the satellite’s control unit and three-meter-wide camera will be locally manufactured, directly after the approval of the country’s Space Agency Law, in cooperation with China and Japan; the manufacture process is expected to be completed in 2020.
The Egyptian Space Agency will be set up on Cairo-Suez road and will be devoted to manufacturing the components of the satellite and attracting all Egyptian space scientists to the space and satellite city on Cairo-Suez road.
Abdel-Ghaffar added that Egypt’s space and satellite technology city will contribute 10 percent to the national income, referring that in some countries like England the Space Agency contributes 16 percent to GDP.
In this regard, Head of Parliament’s Education Committee Gamal Shiha remarked that this satellite and agency will make Egypt join the world’s space club.
During the session, Parliament's Education and Scientific Research Committee submitted a 25 page report about the law, saying that the law aims to push Egypt forward in the area of space and satellite technology serving the country’s national security.
The agency will be affiliated to the president and will be mainly responsible for drawing up a national space technology program within the next few years.
Source: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/38422/Space-City-would-contribute-10-to-Egypt-s-GDP