The Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI) is an Ethiopian institute for research, training and infrastructure development in space science, created in 2016.

Creation

The Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS) was created as a citizens' association in 2004. ESSS helped to organise the creation of

Entoto Observatory The Entoto Observatory Space Science Research Center (EORC) is an astronomical observatory station located in Mount Entoto, close to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The center was initiated during the establishment of the Ethiopian Space Science Society ( ...

in 2014 and of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute in 2016. ESSTI was formally established by the Hailemariam Desalegn Cabinet, under regulation No. 916/2015.

Aims

ESSTI was mandated to carry out research and training in space science and to develop and encourage space science and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

development and infrastructure in Ethiopia.

Leadership and structure

Abdissa Yilma was ESSTI's general director in 2021. , Yeshurun Alemayehu was ESSTI's deputy general director. Together with the creation of ESSTI, the ''Space Council'' was created to oversee Ethiopian space science policies and the implementation of ESSTI proposals.

Satellite launches

ESSTI's first satellite, ETRSS-1, is a 72 kg remote sensing microsatellite, co-designed by Ethiopian and Chinese engineers and launched in December 2019. ESSTI's second satellite, ET-SMART-RSS, an 8.9 kg

nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...

, also designed and built in Ethiopian–Chinese collaboration, was launched from

Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site The Wenchang Space Launch Site ( zh, 文昌航天发射场, links=no), located in Wenchang, Hainan, China, is a rocket launch site — one of the two spacecraft launch sites of Xichang Satellite Launch Center (the other site is in Xichang, ...

on 22 December 2020.

Research and teaching

Research and teaching departments in ESSTI include the Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Department, with research in fields including extragalactic astronomy, stellar astronomy,

cultural astronomy Cultural astronomy, sometimes called the study of Astronomy in Culture, has been described as investigating "the diversity of ways in which cultures, both ancient and modern, perceive celestial objects and integrate them into their view of the worl ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

. , the department had graduated 11 master's students and 5 doctoral students.

Mirjana Pović Mirjana Pović (born 8 August 1981) is a Serbian astrophysicist who works on galaxy formation and evolution at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute. She was the inaugural laureate of the Nature - Estée Lauder ''Inspiring Science ...

, an assistant professor of the department and head of the department from 2018 to 2020, was awarded the inaugural ''

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...

Inspiration Medal'' in 2021 by the

European Astronomical Society The European Astronomical Society (EAS) is a learned society, founded under the Swiss Civil Code in 1990, as an association to contribute and promote the advancement of astronomy in Europe, and to deal with astronomical matters at a European lev ...

for her contributions to the development of "astronomy, science and education as a route out of poverty and to improve the quality of life for young people in Africa."

References

{{authority control Space technology research institutes Organisations based in Ethiopia 2016 establishments in Ethiopia