The Blue Origin space craft owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is to take six individuals to space from nations historically underrepresented in space exploration. Nigeria is one of the selected countries. Though a date is yet to be fixed for this particular trip, the Blue Origin space flight usually lasts about 11 minutes, during which participants are expected to undertake an experiment of their choice. The partnership to send the first Nigerian to space was facilitated by Anne Agi, a space law and policy academic and president of LearnSpace Foundation. She explains, in this interview with The Conversation’s West Africa regional editor, Adejuwon Soyinka, why the space trip is important and its benefits for Nigeria as the country marks 25 years of its space exploration journey.
How did this come about?
The Space Exploration and Research Agency, a US based organisation, has an initiative called the Human Space Flight Program. Its mandate is to democratise space for everyone. The agency is purchasing seats on the Blue Origin which will be given out for free to partner nations with little or no space footprint.
