Across the African continent, governments continue to view space technology as a catalyst for socio-economic development. Investments in space programs are increasing as are satellite launches. Already, 59 satellites have been launched by African nations, with the number expected to reach 110 by 2030. Ensuring that space technology can meet its potential to address and overcome societal and climate challenges depends on finding and fostering the next generation of space engineers and scientists.
This is a task that Intelsat has wholeheartedly embraced.
Throughout its history as the foundational leader in the satellite communications industry, Intelsat has always invested in efforts to connect the unconnected and improve lives and livelihoods through space-based connectivity. Few initiatives better reflect Intelsat’s culture of giving back than the Intelsat MaxIQ Space STEM Program.
Launched in 2020 in partnership with MaxIQ Space, a provider of educational resources, the program is upleveling STEM research across Africa, bringing space-based learning to students and cultivating a pipeline of young satellite engineers. That first year, 16 high school students between the ages of 15-and-18 from across the continent were provided STEM kits, engaged in virtual workshops, and were assigned a project – or mission – such as designing and building a satellite that could be launched into space to monitoring the sustainability of the planet.
In the subsequent years since that successful debut, the program grew and was expanded to include more students – approximately 30 each year – representing a wider array of African countries including Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. Over four years, 110 African high school students have participated in virtual workshops and executed a range of missions related to climate action, IoT, weather, clean energy, space-based communications, and more.
With year five on the horizon, Intelsat and MaxIQ are radically overhauling the format of the program to reach, engage, and introduce space technology education to an even greater number of African students, as well as educators.
Rather than soliciting applications from individual students, Intelsat and MaxIQ are opening the application process to schools and teachers located in four African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Senegal) where Intelsat also has a permanent presence. Three schools from each country with the required physical classroom capacity will be selected for participation.
Teachers at these schools will be trained virtually by Intelsat experts. They will be provided a curriculum and educational content designed by MaxIQ. Schools will receive STEM kits for use in live experiments and execution of missions and projects. Intelsat employees located on the continent will visit the selected schools periodically to meet the teachers and students, monitor the progress of the missions, and share their experiences of working in the fields of satellite and space technology.
By adopting this new approach, Intelsat and MaxIQ expect to increase the number of students exposed to STEM and space education from approximately 30 each of the past few years to potentially hundreds.
By increasing investment in what has already been a hugely successful STEM and space education program, and deploying a new approach that more directly integrates educational institutions across multiple countries, Intelsat expects to amplify the impact of the program while further solidifying its decade-long commitment to Africa.
Schools and teachers in the four participating countries are invited to apply by March 31st, 2025.
