MOFCOM provides RMB 300 million grant for Satellite Data Receiving Ground Station (SDRGS) Project

Project narrative

During the Government of Namibia’s 2018/2019 Financial Year, the Chinese Government and the Government of Namibia signed an RMB 300 million (NAD 370 million) grant agreement for the Satellite Data Receiving Ground Station (SDRGS) Project. The purpose of the project is to construct a Satellite Data Receiving Ground Station (SDRGS) at the current location of the Telecom Earth Station right outside of the capital city of Windhoek. The station will include an antenna feed subsystem, channel subsystem, data recording and transmission subsystem and control subsystem. The confirmed project site is situated at 22039’13.54”S, 1703.34’90”E. The satellite dish will be situated on top of the mountain, not far from the Telecom Earth Station buildings. The site for the satellite dish measures approximately 500 m² in extent (20 m x 25 m). The SDRGS is expected to facilitate the collection remote sensing satellite data for research, decision-making and management purposes on Namibia’s environmental conditions and resources distribution. More specifically, it is expected to provide data for: (a) Disaster risk management; (b) Vegetation and rangeland monitoring; (c) Land cover and land use planning; (d) Agricultural management and monitoring; (e) Water management and monitoring; (f) Fire and drought management and monitoring; (g) Coastline (including border) monitoring; and (h) Phytoplankton and/or Sulphur blooms management; (i) Mineral exploration and marine spatial planning; and (j) Coastal surveillance and monitoring (of illegal fishing and pollution, including monitoring of oil spills). The project will be implemented through Namibia’s Ministry of Higher Education, Technology & Innovation (MHETI). Another component of the project involves the provision of technical training to 10 local engineers and send experts to Namibia for joint research and development. A project feasibility study was conducted in February 2018. Then, on November 25, 2019, a team conducted a site visit. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) was undertaken in July 2020. Then, in October 2021, a group of Chinese experts conducted an on-site project investigation. Construction works were expected to commence in 2022, and Namibia's National Planning Commission reported that construction of the SDRGS project had reached an advanced stage by December of that year. In December 2023, Dr. Lisho Mundia, the Director of Research and Innovation at Nambia's Ministry of Higher Education, Technology, and Innovation, provided a status update on the project. He noted that the project's first phase ('civil works') -- including road work to the mountain where the antennas were to be installed as well as the construction of a data center, equipment rooms, and coiling rooms -- was underway and scheduled to reach completion by the end of February 2024. Phase 2, which was originally scheduled to commence in March 2024 and conclude in early 2026, includes cubing in the antennas, cooling and equipment rooms, data processing rooms, and data centers. It also includes training on general management of the SDRGS, data processing, operationalization and servicing of antennas and related equipment, and triangulation of Earth Observation Centre (EO) data. On April 8, 2024, the SDRGS project launched training program as part of Phase 2. 10 trainees graduated from the program on April 18, 2024.