Rwanda still wants 300,000+ satellites
June 23, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Last year, the tiny African state of Rwanda registered several constellations of small satellites with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), totalling more than 300,000 units. It insists it wants to go ahead with the project but wants to ensure strict safety and debris removal for its satellite users.
Anuarite Umwari, Rwanda’s Space Agency legal and corporate secretary, speaking at a London space conference on June 22nd, focused on Rwanda’s expertise in satellite activity and said that she and her colleagues had been in dialogue with the Global Satellite Operators Association and discussed debris removal from space.
Rwanda is working with entrepreneur Greg Wyler and his E-Space project on the scheme for the satellites. Wyler has raised $50 million in seed funding from investors.
E-Space has said that mass-production of the fleet will start in 2023.