LUANDA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Participants in the New Space Africa Conference 2024 held in Luanda, Angola's capital, are calling for great efforts to boost international cooperation and exchange experiences in the space industry.

The conference, held from Tuesday to Friday, was attended by more than 400 people, including representatives from space agencies and officials from more than 24 African countries, envoys of the African Union (AU) and representatives from globally renowned aerospace entities.

In his opening speech, Mohammed Belhocine, the AU commissioner for Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, highlighted global collaborative efforts to develop the African space industry, saying that Africa is open to all partnerships.

"I hope we can work together to keep all the windows of opportunity open to enable our continent to quickly bridge the gaps in space sciences and the peaceful use of space and for our countries, particularly our youth, to benefit from diverse and enriching experiences worldwide," he said.

The conference also featured an exhibition spotlighting 28 prominent institutions or companies from the global space industry, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), and Airbus Defence and Space.

As the conference's host country, Angola shared insights into its experience with the Angosat-2, the nation's first successful satellite. Manufactured and launched by Russia in October 2022, the satellite has facilitated communication services in remote areas of Angola.

"International cooperation is essential for advancing the space sector in Angola, with collaborations that have contributed to the development achieved so far. The Angolan space industry is open to all cooperation partners," said Gilson dos Santos, head of the Sales Department for Products and Services at Angola's National Space Program Management Office.

Temidayo Oniosun, the managing director of Space in Africa, an analytics and consulting company, also the conference's organizer, mentioned that many African countries are investing in space to meet needs such as natural resources, climate monitoring, communications and expect to attract talent reserves and technical support through international cooperation.

According to him, African countries' collaboration with partners including China, the United States, and Russia in the space industry is not "exclusive," and Africa welcomes all cooperation partners.

"Currently, the (African space) industry is valued at around 19 billion U.S. dollars. We expect it to grow to over 22 billion dollars by 2026. We want to bring in more people, more international partners interested in cooperating with Africa, and we also want to bring all Africans together to explore collaborations," he said. Enditem

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