Spain's Atalayar Between Two Shores posted on 13 February 2024 an article titled "China's New Ambition: To Set Up a Space Base in the Horn of Africa" by Juan Pons.
The article reviews the Chinese initiative that resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in January 2023 between Djibouti's Ministry of Higher Education and Research and two private Chinese companies: Touchroad International Holdings Group and Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group. This joint venture is aiming to operate satellite launches with no less than seven pads and three rocket engine test beds on a 10 square kilometer site near Obock in Djibouti. The investment is expected to exceed $1 billion.
Space in Africa published on 18 December 2023 an article titled "2023 in Review: Remarkable Feats from Djibouti's Growing Space Programme" by Ayooluwa Adetola.
The article contains an interview with a senior official in Djibouti's Ministry of Higher Education and Research, which signed the international commercial spaceport MOU with Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group and Touchroad International Holdings Group. The Djiboutian official said the proposed location for the spaceport is "ready in the desert before the sea in Obock." He added that "for us, the actual start is when we sign the contract, where the responsibilities of all parties are properly spelt out, and the project's feasibility is confirmed." Djibouti is "waiting for the finer details of the contract to be ironed out."
By way of background, Foreign Policy published on 21 April 2023 an article titled "China's Space Dream Is a Legal Nightmare" by Benjamin Silverstein, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
This piece provides the rationale for a spaceport in Djibouti and the practical and legal challenges to implementing the project.
Comment: While this ambitious project is still very much under discussion by the government of Djibouti and the companies in Hong Kong and China, it remains a proposal and not an established fact.
