CAIRO — The Egyptian government and research institutions are hanging great hopes on the expanded use of satellite technology for the development and monitoring of underground water supplies and coastal regions endangered by climate change. However, those efforts are still dependent on the availability of expertise and adequate financial resources to finance Egypt’s ambitious space program.

On April 14, the Egyptian government, in a statement obtained by Al-Monitor, announced the launch of its EgyptSat 2 satellite from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, bolstering Egypt’s presence in space. This comes in preparation for the establishment of the Egyptian Space Agency and the latter’s contribution to all areas of Egyptian development, including agriculture, industry, mining, urban planning, water, the environment and the early detection of natural hazards.

Medhat Mokhtar, the head of Egypt’s National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, told Al-Monitor the satellite will not be used for military purposes. “The new satellite will primarily help advance three main issues: namely, the conclusion of studies to develop the Suez Canal axis, the development of projects for the southeastern region of Egypt and the monitoring of the Renaissance Dam’s effects on the water security of Egypt,” he said, noting that "the satellite will not serve any military purposes, but its uses do fall within the purview of national security through the monitoring of Egypt’s borders with its neighbors and the detection of illegal activities along our borders."

Mokhtar added that, with the launch of this new satellite, Egypt is regaining the role it played among Arab and African nations with regard to the exploitation of space — following a period when South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya surpassed it. This launch came because of a loss of communications with EgyptSat 1 in 2010, which meant Egyptian research institutions had to resort to requesting satellite imagery from foreign space administrations.