Space sector’s rallying call for further investment ahead of June Global Summit

 

 

Kenya’s space sector is aggressively pushing for increased strategic investment to secure its position as one of the global leaders in the rapidly growing space economy.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp6RQiRTh0Q&t=903s

Speaking ahead of the Global Data Festival and the Kenya Space Expo and Conference 2026, slated for June, the Acting Director General of Kenya Space Agency (KSA), Brigadier Henry Kipkosgey, said while growth continues to be supported by innovation, initiatives like new business models, assertive government policies, and strategic partnerships towards expanding demand for satellite -enabled services, will be crucial if the country is to stamp its authority into the global space economy.

According to Novaspace’s Space Economy Report for this year, the global space economy is expected to expand from $626.4 billion last year to $1.01 trillion by 2034, a significant 12% CAGR, driven primarily by governments’ space spending on security, sovereignty, and exploration programs.

Kipkosgey is now betting big on the conference, which he believes stands out as a structural inflection point that the 4 -day forum, beginning June 2, will mark a transition from rapid expansion toward a more mature and structured space market.

 

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“We remain heavily reliant on grants and international partnerships, which are not sufficient to compete with our peers on the continent. So, we believe that the upcoming expo will create a platform for investors to easily tap into the country’s space sector for economic development,” Kipkosgey said.

Other constraints stifling the sector’s potential growth include the shortage of specialised skills, infrastructure, and substantial investment from both the public and private sectors.

Construction of a commercial spaceport

Despite Africa’s growing presence in orbit, the continent has long relied on Western expertise. Although countries like South Africa developed homegrown satellites as early as 1999, most nations including Kenya have depended on European support for assembly, development, and launch.

It is against this backdrop that Kenya’s space agency is seeking suitable bids, inviting partnerships for the construction of a commercial spaceport to be used for satellite launches. It is keen on developing Kenya’s own spaceport for the commercial launch of satellites into orbit to reduce cost and reliance on foreign space companies.

The agency is hopeful that the extension of the deadline for transaction advisory services to March 18, which intends to support Kenya’s development of a satellite launch facility in Kipini, located between Maindi and Lamu, through Pubic Private Partnership (PPP), will help address the aforementioned challenges.

The transaction advisor which the agency hopes should be arrived at by September, 2026, at least, will provide it with a guide for construction of the commercial spaceport which includes proposing contractual structure of execution of the project as a PPP, proposing launch vehicle development or acquisition, comprise a technical, economic, financial, environmental and social feasibility of developing a launch facility in Kenya.

It will also provide preliminary designs and drawings along with a phased implementation plan for the spaceport development, and provide a value-for-money analysis and affordability assessment.

Partnerships

Indeed, space infrastructure is being increasingly viewed as a strategic national priority, with countries not just Kenya, competing for investments to secure a geopolitical advantage.

Investors like Jenna Slotin, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), expect ​the funding momentum to be driven by spending on sovereign satellite and missile-defense systems, integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning into space hardware, and data analytics.

Space and data are inextricably intertwined, with space acting as both a massive source of and a new frontier for data management and processing. It is a relationship that has, until recently, been defined by the rapid growth of the space economy and the increasing reliance on space-based assets to provide actionable, real-time insights for Earth-based industries.

Similarly, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) is now leveraging space data, satellite imagery, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to modernize their crucial activities like the national census operations, hoping to make them more accurate, cost-effective, and faster.

KNBS Director General Dr. Macdonald Obudho says a partnership of that nature between the agency, KSA, and DPSDD would allow his office to map, monitor, and enumerate populations, particularly in difficult-to-reach areas or rapidly changing urban landscapes. It is a new technological advancement that KNBS is hoping to deploy in its next national census.

The country last held such an exercise in 2019. Kenya’s next national population and housing census is expected to take place in 2029, following the standard decennial (10-year) cycle established by the agency.

Summit’s expectations

Kenya is hosting the major international gathering on data, technology, and space innovation, which brings together global experts, policymakers, and innovators to discuss how data and emerging technologies can help tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Organised by the Kenya Space Agency in partnership with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, the joint conference comes at a time when countries across the world are grappling with climate shocks, disasters, disease risks, and rising food insecurity, even as technologies such as artificial intelligence and satellite systems advance rapidly.

Organisers say the event aims to bring together decision makers and experts to align priorities, mobilise investment, and deploy data and space technologies where they can deliver the greatest impact.