The quest for space capabilities and military security in Africa

ABSTRACT

Many African nations are increasingly exploring the space frontier in pursuit of their development and security aspirations, with some 30 space agencies, 41 satellites and several ground facilities sponsored across the continent. Although most space programmes in Africa are administered by civilians and designed for research and development purposes, there is also a military-security dimension. During the Cold War, some African countries (prominently South Africa, Egypt and Libya) pursued space, missile and nuclear weapon triad capabilities until domestic and international political dynamics halted or softened those quests. From the second decade of 21^st century, however, a new quest for military space capabilities has become evident in Africa. Several African states are embracing space support for military-security purposes. Hence, this study seeks to assess the growing interest and commitment to the acquisition of space capabilities in the military-security framework in Africa, considering the trajectories, opportunities, motivations and possible implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• space policy
• space programme
• military security
• emerging space powers
• satellite
• regional powers
• research and development

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank Lere Amusan and J. Shola Omotola, and many stakeholders in the space sector of Nigeria and South Africa that encouraged and supported my research in this area. I also appreciate the anonymous reviewers and the editorial team of the South African Journal of International Affairs for their advice on the earlier draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Samuel Oyewole is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Studies and International Relations, North-West University, South Africa. His research interest covers development and security strategies (through land, maritime, air and space frontiers), and their relevance to crisis management. His articles have appeared in Astropolitics, Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs, African Security Review, African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review, Defense and Security Analysis, Defence Studies, Journal of Asian and African Studies, New Zealand International Review, Politikon, Politeia, Strategic Analysis, and Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.

Notes

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18 Tellis et al., Measuring National Power in the Postindustrial Age, 39.

19 Tellis et al., Measuring National Power in the Postindustrial Age, 39.

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23 Michael and Thompson, eds., Anti-Satellite Weapons, Deterrence and Sino-American Space Relations; Mowthorpe, The Militarization and Weaponization of Space; Dawson, War in Space; William J Durch, National Interests and the Military Use of Space (Cambridge: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1984).

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25 Cenan Al-Ekabi et al., eds., Yearbook on Space Policy 2015: Access to Space and the Evolution of Space Activities (Geneva: Springer, 2017); Burger and Bordacchini, eds., Yearbook on Space Policy 2017; Organisation for Economic and Development (OECD), Space Economy at a Glance 2014 (OECD Publishing, 2014); Sadeh, Space Strategy in the 21st Century; Davenport, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos.

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28 This was evident to various degrees in the case of India, Israel, Iran, North Korea, Libya, South Africa, Iraq and Egypt where peaceful space (launch) and nuclear research and development were converted and/or use as a pretext to develop capabilities for military-security purposes. Dinshaw Mistry and Bharath Gopalaswamy, ‘Ballistic Missiles and Space Launcher Vehicles in Regional Powers,’ Astropolitics 10, no. (2) (2012): 126–51; Harding, Space Policy in Developing Countries; Theo Pirards, ‘German Rockets in Africa: The Explosive Heritage of Peenemunde,’ Acta Astronautica 40, no. (12) (1991): 885–98.

29 Steven J Dick, ed., Historical Studies in the Societal Impact of Spaceflight (Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2015); Philip Olla, ed., Space Technologies for the Benefit of Human Society and Earth (New York: Springer, 2009); Sarah Lieberman, ‘Understanding our Changing Relationship With Space: An International Political Economy Reading of Space Popularisation,’ Space Policy 41 (2017): 53–9; Iraklis Oikonomou, ‘“All u Need is Space”: Popularizing EU Space Policy,’ Space Policy 41 (2017): 5–11.

30 Euroconsultant’s Government Space Programs 2014 report cited in Bhavya Lal et al., Global Trends in Space. Volume 1: Background and Overall Findings (Washington, DC: IDA Science & Technology Policy Institute, 2015).

31 Simon Seminari, ‘Op-Ed: Global Government Space Budgets Continues Multiyear Rebound,’ Space News, November 24, 2019.

32 Bowdoin A Van Riper, Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004); Clayton CK Chun, Thunder Over the Horizon: From V-2 Rockets to Ballistic Missiles (Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc, 2006); Kenneth P Werrell, The Evolution of the Cruise Missile (Alabama: Air University Press).

33 Van Riper, Rockets and Missiles; Chun, Thunder Over the Horizon; Werrell, The Evolution of the Cruise Missile; Boris Chertok, Rockets and People, vol. 1-4. (Washington, DC: NASA, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011); Sadeh, Space Strategy  … .

34 Dinshaw Mistry and Bharath Gopalaswamy, ‘Ballistic Missiles and Space Launcher Vehicles in Regional Powers,’ Astropolitics 10, no. (2) (2012): 126–51.

35 Pat Norris, Spies in the Sky: Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace (New York: Springer, 2008), 22; Dwayne A Day, John M Logsdon, and Brian Latell, Eye in the Sky: The Story of the Corona Spy Satellites (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 1998).

36 Bhupendra M Jasani, ‘The Military Use of Satellites: The Quest for a Comprehensive Outer Space Treaty,’ Bulletin of Peace Proposals 9, no. (3) (1978): 223.

37 Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Satellite Database, https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database (accessed January 28, 2020).

38 Samuel Oyewole, ‘Space Research and Development in Africa,’ Astropolitics 15, no. (2) (2017): 185–208; Adigun Ade Abiodun, ‘Trends in the Global Space Arena: Impact on Africa and Africa’s Response,’ Space Policy 28 (2012): 283–90.

39 ‘Copernicus User Uptake: Inventory of Private Sector Companies in Earth Observation and Geospatial Fields in Africa’, Report prepared by African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) and European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC), with support from SpaceTec Partners for the European Commission, 2016.

40 Annette Froehlich and André Siebrits, Space Supporting Africa: A Primary Needs Approach and Africa’s Emerging Space Middle Powers (Springer, 2019); ‘2019 Might Be the Best Year So Far for The African Space Industry,’ Space in Africa, December 23, 2019; Federal Government of Nigeria, ‘Appropriation Act, 2016–2019’ http://www.budgetoffice.gov.ng/.

41 Froehlich and Siebrits, Space Supporting Africa; Oyewole, ‘Space Research and Development in Africa’.

42 African Astronomical Society (AfAS), African Observatories, 2020, https://africanastronomicalsociety.org.

43 Oyewole, ‘Space Research … ’; Michael Gastrow, ‘The Stars in Our Eyes: Representations of the Square Kilometre Array Telescope in the South African Media’ (PhD diss., University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2015); Saul Dubow, ‘200 Years of Astronomy in South Africa: From the Royal Observatory to the ‘Big Bang’ of the Square Kilometre Array,’ Journal of Southern African Studies 45, no. (4) (2019): 663–87.

44 Froehlich and Siebrits, Space Supporting Africa.

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46 Oyewole, ‘Space Research … ’; Froehlich and Siebrits, Space Supporting Africa.

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48 Federal Government of Nigeria, ‘Appropriation Act, 2011–2019,’ http://www.budgetoffice.gov.ng/.

49 Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST), Nigeria, National Space Policy and Programme (Abuja: Federal Government of Nigeria, 2001).

50 Department of Trade and Industry, National Space Policy (Pretoria: Government of the Republic of South Africa, 2008).

51 African Space Policy and Strategy approved by the African Union (AU) Assembly in January 2016.

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59 As Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Maynier was briefed by the Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, while investigating a 2006/2007 audit report of the Special Defence Account (SDA). Statement issued by David Maynier MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence & Military Veterans, February 9 2014.

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67 Theo Pirards, ‘German Rockets in Africa: The Explosive Heritage of Peenemunde,’ Acta Astronautica 40, no. (12) (1991): 885–98.

68 Pirards, ‘German Rockets in Africa’.

69 Bahgat, Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East.

70 Arabsat, ‘The Fleet,’ https://www.arabsat.com/english/the-fleet; Gunter’s Space Page, ‘Kondor-E,’ https://www.space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/arabsat-1a.htm.

71 ‘Egypt’s TIBA-1 Military Communication Satellite Ready For launch,’ Space in Africa, October 17, 2019.

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73 Jack Caravelli, Beyond Sand and Oil: The Nuclear Middle East (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2011); Pargeter, Libya; Simons, Libya.

74 Caravelli, Beyond Sand and Oil; Pargeter, Libya; Simons, Libya; Pirards, ‘German Rockets in Africa’.

75 Pargeter, Libya; Van Genugten, Libya in Western Foreign Policies.

76 Arabsat, ‘About,’ https://www.arabsat.com/english/about.

77 Honourable Saka, ‘Africans Will Remember Gaddafi for One Important Achievement,’ Modern Ghana, November 17, 2012, https://www.modernghana.com/news/430695/africans-will-remember-gaddafi-for-one-important.html; Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza, ‘Africa Enjoys Unlimited Telecommunication Services Thanks To Gaddafi,’ October 8, 2019, https://www.africanexponent.com/post/4244-muammar-gaddafi-led-the-efforts-to-connect-africa-together.

78 Ghaith Shennib, ‘Libya Seeks Italian Help for Satellite System for Borders,’ Reuters, November 26, 2013, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security/libya-seeks-italian-help-for-satellite-system-for-borders-idUSBRE9AP0U920131126.

79 Faisel Em M Tubbal et al., ‘The Design Requirements for Libyan Imaging Mini-Satellite (LibyaSat-1),’ in 2015 1st International Conference on Wireless and Telematics (ICWT), 2015, pp. 1–7.

80 Adigun Ade Abiodun, Nigeria’s Space Journey: Understanding Its Past, Reshaping Its Future (African Space Foundation, 2017); Joseph Olusola Akinyede and Robert Ajayi Boroffice, Nigeria’s Quest in Space (Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 2013).

81 National Atomic Energy Commission, https://www.nigatom.org.ng/.

82 Federal Government of Nigeria, ‘Appropriation Act, 2017–2019,’ http://www.budgetoffice.gov.ng/.

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85 IISS, ‘Chapter Nine: Sub-Saharan Africa,’ The Military Balance 120, no. (1) (2020): 444–514, doi:10.1080/04597222.2020.1707971. The report shows that South African Air Force is equipped with laser-guided bombs.

86 James McDougall, A History of Algeria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017).

87 Victor Iwuoha, ‘Dilemma of Nuclear Power Seekers: Does Failed Attempt to Balance Power Hold Back Future Military Developments in Nuclear Power-seeking States?’ African Security (2019): doi:10.1080/19392206.2019.1645448.

88 Siebrits, ‘Algeria.’

89 Oyewole, ‘Military Capabilities of Regional Powers in Africa’.

90 André Siebrits, ‘Morocco,’ in Integrated Space for African Society: Legal and Policy Implementation of Space in African Countries, ed. Annette Froehlich (Springer, 2019).

91 Morocco World News, ‘Morocco’s First Reconnaissance Satellite Will Launch November 8,’ November 7, 2017.

92 Global Firepower, ‘African Military Strength (2020),’ 2020, http://www.globalsecurity.org/.

93 Oyewole, ‘Military Capabilities of Regional Powers in Africa’.

94 Joseph Ibeh, ‘Ethiopia To Commence Construction of Satellite Manufacturing, AIT Centre,’ Space in Africa, October 14, 2019.

95 Ministry of Defence, ‘Kenya Space Agency Board Appointed and Inaugurated,’ September 11, 2018. Beside the membership of the chief of defence, the board is headed by Major General (Rtd) James Aruasa.

96 Lere Amusan and Samuel Oyewole, ‘The Quest for Hegemony and the Future of African Solution to African Development Problems: Lessons from Headways in African Security Sector.’ Journal of Asian and African Studies 52, no. (1) (2017): 21–33; Toyin Falola and Kwame Essien, Pan-Africanism, and the Politics of African Citizenship and Identity (New York: Routledge, 2014); Olusola Ogunnubi, ‘Hegemonic Order and Regional Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Study of Nigeria and South Africa’ (Thesis (PhD). University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 2013).

97 Eunice N Sahle, ed., Human Rights in Africa: Contemporary Debates and Struggles (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019); Timothy Stapleton, Africa: War and Conflict in the Twentieth Century (New York: Routledge, 2018); Paul D Williams, War and Conflict in Africa (Wiley, 2016); Rachel Murray, Human Rights in Africa: From the OAU to the African Union (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

98 Scarlett Cornelissen, Fantu Cheru, and Timothy Shaw, eds., Africa and International Relations in the 21st Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Amusan and Oyewole, ‘The Quest for Hegemony’; Falola and Essien, Pan-Africanism, and the politics of African Citizenship and Identity.