<p class="title">Ethiopia launched its first satellite into space on Friday, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programs to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Before dawn on Friday, senior officials and citizens gathered at the Entoto Observatory and Research Centre just north of the capital of Addis Ababa to watch a live broadcast of the satellite's launch from a space station in China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This will be a foundation for our historic journey to prosperity," deputy prime minister Demeke Mekonnen said in a speech at the launch event broadcast on state television.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The satellite was designed by Chinese and Ethiopian engineers and the Chinese government paid about $6 million of the more than $7 million manufacturing costs, Solomon Belay, director-general of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute, told Reuters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Space is food, space is job creation, a tool for technology...sovereignty, to reduce poverty, everything for Ethiopian to achieve universal and sustainable development," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The satellite will be used for weather forecast and crop monitoring, officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The African Union adopted a policy on African space development in 2017 and declared that space science and technology could advance economic progress and natural resource management on the continent</p>
<p class="title">Ethiopia launched its first satellite into space on Friday, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programs to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Before dawn on Friday, senior officials and citizens gathered at the Entoto Observatory and Research Centre just north of the capital of Addis Ababa to watch a live broadcast of the satellite's launch from a space station in China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This will be a foundation for our historic journey to prosperity," deputy prime minister Demeke Mekonnen said in a speech at the launch event broadcast on state television.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The satellite was designed by Chinese and Ethiopian engineers and the Chinese government paid about $6 million of the more than $7 million manufacturing costs, Solomon Belay, director-general of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute, told Reuters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Space is food, space is job creation, a tool for technology...sovereignty, to reduce poverty, everything for Ethiopian to achieve universal and sustainable development," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The satellite will be used for weather forecast and crop monitoring, officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The African Union adopted a policy on African space development in 2017 and declared that space science and technology could advance economic progress and natural resource management on the continent</p>