The Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) and ATLAS Space Operations Inc. have announced a strategic partnership to use a teleport in Rwanda — the teleport will feature a 9.3 meter antenna in different frequency bands capable of servicing spacecraft on lunar missions.
The agreement was signed on February 21st 2023 between Mike Carey, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of ATLAS, and Col Francis Ngabo, CEO of RSA, to allow ATLAS to extend its network of global ground stations in Sub-Saharan Africa with the capability to support lunar missions.
According to the agreement’s details released by RSA, the Agency is building a teleport capable of hosting multiple ground stations to service satellites in different orbits. In addition, the teleport has state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities capable of providing critical communication for spacecraft Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C).
Col Francis Ngabo said, “The partnership results from RSA’s strategy to invest in the midstream and downstream segments of the space sector, enabling Rwanda to become the go-to destination for any global space entity wishing to use satellite ground infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we believe our partnership with ATLAS will bring value to Rwanda’s teleport and space programme in general. The operation of the teleport and satellite ground station will attract investors in the space sector as well as provide easy access to satellite data for developing various applications that can contribute to the socio-economic development of Rwanda.”
Mike Carey also noted that his organization would employ its Ground Software as a Service, built around the firm’s Freedom Platform, to manage the Rwandan satellite ground station and other critical radio frequencies to facilitate satellite management and space missions.
“We are thrilled to partner with RSA to extend our operation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The combination of our Freedom software and federated global antenna network will provide opportunities for Rwanda to benefit from our large client base that wishes to use ground stations in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, ATLAS intends to use the Rwandan ground station to command current and prospective client space missions, and this is a great example of how strategic partnerships can make space accessible for all,” Carey said.
The teleport in Rwanda comes at a time when the space industry is going through rapid development, with projected growth from $400 billion of revenue in 2022 to $1 trillion in 2040. Similarly, the industry is also experiencing significant growth and interest in the outer space exploration segment, with missions such as Artemis 1 opening the way for a long journey back to the Moon.
Rwanda was the first country in Africa, together with Nigeria, to sign the Artemis Accords. To this end, with the global growth of the space industry and the increasing interest in outer space exploration, ground stations will play an essential role in maintaining communication between spacecraft or on-orbit satellites.