Kenya was among a handful of countries that enjoyed an enviable privilege of having access to the invaluable burgeoning space technology in the 1960s. This opportunity arose courtesy of NASA and the Italian space program’s desires to launch rockets from the equator.
Recall that this was the period when countries such as India, Japan and Brazil that presently possess notable robust space technology sectors, were striving to engender national space programs. Moreover, other significant players like South Korea had not even ventured into the field.
Despite this early opportunity coming to Kenya’s doorstep, the country remained oddly aloof to adopt space technology as part of the national development agenda. Clearly, this lack of interest and foresight has persisted to this day; occasionally punctuated by incoherent, stuttering feeble attempts to somehow re-orient the space facility in Malindi to serve as the pedestal of the yet to be clearly defined Kenyan space technology ambitions.
This has been and continues to be a gravely wasted opportunity. The country’s leadership lacked foresight and vision. If it had acted accordingly, Kenya would be a leading space technology powerhouse like India and I am confident the lives of the people would have benefitted immensely. Moreover, the nation’s technology and innovation sphere would be drastically more sophisticated and propitious than is presently the case.
Consequently, though charming; the anecdotal account of how the space station came to be along Kenya’s coast is an absurd tale.
Here is an account detailing the origins of the space technology facilities at Malindi under the title;
There’s a space center in Kenya, the Luigi Broglio Space Center, but it’s owned by Italy. This is the story of how it came to be….