Recalibrating India-Africa Space Ties

India must move beyond symbolic MoUs to forge a meaningful and mutually beneficial space partnership with the African Union

On 20 April 2025, the African Space Agency (AfSA) was formally inaugurated, with its headquarters now established in New Cairo City. The AfSA headquarters are located near the Egyptian Space Agency headquarters, effectively giving Egypt, the second-largest African economy, the charge of hosting a major African Union (AU) institution. The inauguration was attended by members of the international space community, with representation from the European Space Agency (ESA), the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA), and the heads of the national space agencies of various AU member countries, including current members of the AfSA.

Read the original Expert Speak form of this piece on the Observer Research Foundation website through this weblink - https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/recalibrating-india-africa-space-ties