China handed over a funded ground station to Namibia on February 12, located at Windhoek’s Telecom Earth Station, enabling the processing of remote-sensing data from satellites including the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS-4). China’s ambassador to Namibia, Zhao Weiping, described it as Beijing’s first high-technology development assistance project in the African nation. The station will be fully owned and operated by Namibia, with local technicians already trained by Chinese experts.
China is building the hi-tech backbone of Africa’s space ambitions by providing space infrastructure, which analysts say serves as a form of soft power on the continent. A recent example is the February 12 handover in Windhoek, Namibia, of a China-funded ground station at the Telecom Earth Station. This facility enables Namibia to process remote-sensing data from satellites, including the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS-4).
China’s ambassador to Namibia, Zhao Weiping, described the station during the ceremony as Beijing’s first “high-technology development assistance project” in the African nation. He noted that the station would be fully owned and operated by Namibia, and that Chinese experts had already trained local technicians.
This initiative forms part of broader China-Africa space cooperation, with keywords pointing to the Space Information Corridor, Egypt, Nigeria, Tunisia, the African Union, the Belt and Road Initiative, Algeria, Egypt Space City, Swakopmund in Namibia, and Ethiopia. While specific details are limited, the project highlights China’s investments in Africa’s space sector.