By ELIAS MESERET, ASSOCIATED PRESS
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Jan 10, 2017, 9:18 AM ET
Ethiopia says it will launch a civilian satellite into orbit in three to five years to better predict weather conditions and for remote sensing activities inside the country.
The announcement comes after a severe drought left more than 10 million people hungry and killed several thousands of animals in the past two years.
Ethiopia is among a number of African countries with growing space ambitions.
The spokesman for the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology, Wondwossen Andualem, says the country likely will launch the satellite from a facility in China.
It is not clear how much the project will cost and whether it will have military uses.
The spokesman says Ethiopia aims to be a space science hub and has a Space Science Council chaired by the prime minister.