Ghana urged to invest in space science and technology

A Ghanaian Engineer, Mr. Manfred Quarshie, has urged the country to demonstrate strong commitment towards the exploitation of space technology.

This, he said, would aid the development of innovative and cutting-edge research in the areas of meteorology, environmental management, territorial monitoring, national security surveillance, agriculture and medicine.

Mr. Quarshie, who heads the Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL) of the All Nations University College (ANUC), said space technology needed to be applied for the solution of local problems.

He was speaking at a seminar organized on the ANUC’s Ground Station and Earth Observation satellite projects in Kumasi by the Africa Media Consult (AMC), a research-based organization.

These projects are being undertaken by the ISSL under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology for educational and research purposes.

The Ground Station would serve as a centre for receiving data from space, whilst the Earth Observation satellite would monitor the environment.

Mr. Quarshie said the ISSL’s recently launched programme – “CanSat” is aimed at providing engineering students with the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge in space engineering and expose them to engineering challenges in the building of a satellite.

He appealed to corporate bodies to be supportive of the projects because of the tremendous benefits to the nation as well as science and technology education.

Nana Michael Ampong, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the AMC, called for massive investment in science education to address development challenges.

Source: GNA