Chinese Government provides RMB 16.1 million grant for Space Tracking, Telemetry and Command Station Expansion Project (Linked to Project ID#1336, ETCA #62366, Umbrella Project #68495)

At the Fifth Forum on China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) Ministerial Conference in 2012, the Chinese Government proposed funding a meteorological aid project for seven countries, one of which was Namibia. Then, on March 29, 2018, the Chinese Government agreed to fund the Space Tracking, Telemetry and Command Station Expansion Project. The RMB 16.1 million grant funding was drawn from and Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) that the the Chinese Government and the Government of Namibia signed on April 5, 2018 (see Project ID#62366). This expansion project sought to increase the facility's remote sensing, earth observation, and weather forecasting capabilities. China Huayun Group was the contractor responsible for implementation. According to a speech that was given during the official project handover ceremony on July 5, 2018, China Meteorological Administration designed the data receiving systems specifically for their Fengyun-3 satellite (FY-3, 风云三号). The RMB 16.1 million grant also facilitated the provision and installation of automatic weather stations, manual observing systems, an early warning radio control system, a meteorological communication system, and other meteorological information comprehensive analysis and processing systems. The Chinese Government originally financed the construction of this facility in 2000 (see Project ID#1336) and it is used by both Chinese and Namibian scientists. However, the 2000 agreement allowing Xian Satellite Control Center to operate the Swakopmund center expired in 2015, so this additional grant may have represented an effort to renew the involvement of the Xian Satellite Control Center. The Space Tracking, Telemetry and Command Station in Swakopmund is of great strategic importance because China’s manned spacecraft is directly above west Namibia during re-entry and braking phases.

Additional details

The Chinese project title is 气象援助纳米比亚项目.

Number of official sources

11

Number of total sources

18