African nations are witnessing a renewed interest in the space industry, with several countries ramping up investments and initiatives. Among these, Egypt stands out as a regional leader, actively pursuing ambitious space programs.

The Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) successfully launched its experimental NExSat-1 satellite on Saturday, February 3, using China's Jielong-3 launch vehicle. This move aims to position EgSA as a pioneer in microsatellite technology within Egypt and Africa, contributing to the nation's sustainable development and potentially opening economic opportunities through domestic satellite production.

EgSA confirmed successful signal reception from NExSat-1 through a test on its website. The satellite, designed for remote sensing and scientific research, was assembled and tested at EgSA's Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center (AITC) in collaboration with the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Science (NARSS) and Berlin Space Technologies (BST).

This launch follows the December 2023 deployment of MisrSat-2, an Earth observation satellite, further solidifying EgSA's leading role in African space science and technology. The agency seeks to build on this momentum in 2024.

"We are planning to launch two more satellites, AfdevSat (African development satellite) and SPNEX (Space Plasma Nanosatellite Experiment), primarily for climate change monitoring," said EgSA Director General Sherif Sedky in December 2023. "Additionally, we aim to expand collaboration with other African countries, particularly for commercializing MisrSat-2 images and applications."

According to the 2022 edition of Space In Africa's annual report, African nations allocated $523.2 million to space programs in 2021 and $534.9 million in 2022, highlighting a growing interest in the sector.