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Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

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Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#91

Post by tines »

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #83

Sub-Saharan Africa feels like a missed opportunity now for Europe and the US. While the US and EU has been focused on donating aid, or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise, China has been making deals there and investing an utterly staggering amount on an on-going basis into its development and future prosperity. Some will proc…

> Some will proclaim "But they'll owe China! That won't end well!", which is shortsighted, lacking in self-awareness and playing into the "everyone that isn't us is the boogeyman" narrative the West likes to maintain.

Exactly. There aren't many Uighurs in Africa, so Africa should be fine.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#92

Post by wiremine »

ajmurmann wrote: post #16

There is a dead comment by someone whose grandma kept donating to charity for Ethiopia. The grandma died poor save the poster is upset that nobody from Ethiopia ever thanked her and now they are prospering. I don't like that comment, but it is actually quite interesting, especially if taken together with another comment on a parallel discussion about the huge growth in Africa and the very visible Chinese influence. I…

> Did we deep down not want results, but instead mainly make ourselves feel good while keeping Africa in a position where they can provide that feeling to us? What concretely is China doing that we failed to do?

I'd argue that it's more important to understand the context from the African perspective, and not just from the Western or Chinese perspective. Ethiopia, for example, has transitioned from a monarchy to a communist dictatorship/Soviet satellite to a non-communist dictatorship to a semi-democracy in just the last 40 years. They've fought a major war with a neighbor, had several famines, and are in the middle of a massive population boom.

So, "did _we_ not want results" isn't a great the best way to view the situation on the ground. China came in at a time where they had money to burn and found a semi-stable group of countries to trade with. That stability was created via the work of Western efforts and massive amounts of hard work by the Africans themselves.

Also, FWIW, the dead comment was likely just a troll: most (all?) donations to the major relief groups get a thank you letter.

Finally: it's worth noting that it's not like Western influence isn't apparent, either. The US Embassy in Addis is hard to miss and steps from the Prime Minister's palace.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#93

Post by mercurysmessage »

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #83

Sub-Saharan Africa feels like a missed opportunity now for Europe and the US. While the US and EU has been focused on donating aid, or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise, China has been making deals there and investing an utterly staggering amount on an on-going basis into its development and future prosperity. Some will proc…

> or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise

What, exactly, are you trying to say here?

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#94

Post by iguy »

elil17 wrote: post #77
chirau wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do these countries need satellites anyway, what exactly are they using them for?

Each satellite is launched into an orbit that has it fly over certain areas more than others. Most satellites are stationed over the richest countries, so there is very little satellite image coverage of many parts of Africa. These images help monitor everything from weather to crop health. Just like building a road, buying a satellite for your country provides critical infrastructure which can boost an economy.

But is this true? Sure if you want coverage of Siberia you may need your own, but doesn't every orbit cross the equator? I would have thought plenty of satellites cross Ethiopia every hour, although perhaps not bothering to run all their cameras without a customer?

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#95

Post by mc32 »

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #83

Sub-Saharan Africa feels like a missed opportunity now for Europe and the US. While the US and EU has been focused on donating aid, or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise, China has been making deals there and investing an utterly staggering amount on an on-going basis into its development and future prosperity. Some will proc…

There was a time, probably late 60s to early 80s when western firms went into LatAm and had moderate success and the economies began to transition from (subsistence) farming to light manufacturing, but due to pop explosion ran into a gringo go home resistance. Wonder if China will manoeuver around that kind of thing.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#96

Post by lainga »

beambot wrote: post #78
rburhum wrote: post #42

I am very familiar with the purchasing process of satellites by LATAM countries. Basically the Chinese or the French (i.e. Airbus) come in and offer you a satellite that ranges between 180M-380M USD in price depending on what you want. The price includes a building with a ground station, the launch, and some basic training. If you negotiate correctly, the full telemetry is send only to you and you process it all loca…

It seems like college students can design, build, & launch a microsat for $50k-$1M. Why jump straight to $200M+ for those learnings? It shouldn't take $Billions to start getting your feet wet.

I think there's a different scale involved when you're running an experiment on a CubeSat vs. trying to set up telecommunications. ARSAT-1 and -2 were both the size of a car (3 tonnes).

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#97

Post by privateprofile »

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #83

Sub-Saharan Africa feels like a missed opportunity now for Europe and the US. While the US and EU has been focused on donating aid, or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise, China has been making deals there and investing an utterly staggering amount on an on-going basis into its development and future prosperity. Some will proc…

>> Some will proclaim "But they'll owe China! That won't end well!"

That's being "proclaimed" in that case because there's increasing and obvious evidence of that country's government using debt being to control governments, political decisions and societies:

- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lank...

- https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/re...

- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-16/are-china-cheap-loans...

- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/...

- https://qz.com/1223768/china-debt-trap-these-eight-countries...

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#98

Post by simlevesque »

tines wrote: post #91
cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #83

Sub-Saharan Africa feels like a missed opportunity now for Europe and the US. While the US and EU has been focused on donating aid, or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise, China has been making deals there and investing an utterly staggering amount on an on-going basis into its development and future prosperity. Some will proc…

> Some will proclaim "But they'll owe China! That won't end well!", which is shortsighted, lacking in self-awareness and playing into the "everyone that isn't us is the boogeyman" narrative the West likes to maintain. Exactly. There aren't many Uighurs in Africa, so Africa should be fine.

Is this a joke ? Uighurs are muslims and Africa is full of them.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#99

Post by saschag »

jaco8 wrote: post #62
HorizonXP wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you trying to say that this is some kind of waste of money? This is literally a weather satellite to help them plan for future events, which should have a direct impact on agriculture. In my mind, a country that can go from famine ravaged to space faring within a single generation should be tremendously lauded. And the fact that it's trying to do something to help prevent another famine is commendable too. (I rea…

While I am being downvoted here happily , unfortunately I know it was a waste of money. On my extensive travels I met charitiy workers who were proud to discuss which of them agencies had the latest Toyota Landcruser , Range Rover , the best air condition in their flown-in prefabricated buildings etc. etc.,last time in Sri Lanka . While I agree with you that achievements should be lauded but the billions of donations…

those 1st world morons and their ideas of progression means nothing if you cant even feed or house your family.

losing karma for defending people who need actual help. for crying out loud.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#100

Post by bilbo0s »

tines wrote: post #91
cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #83

Sub-Saharan Africa feels like a missed opportunity now for Europe and the US. While the US and EU has been focused on donating aid, or through NGOs merely shipping Africans into Europe without much of a plan and then shrugging their shoulders when problems arise, China has been making deals there and investing an utterly staggering amount on an on-going basis into its development and future prosperity. Some will proc…

> Some will proclaim "But they'll owe China! That won't end well!", which is shortsighted, lacking in self-awareness and playing into the "everyone that isn't us is the boogeyman" narrative the West likes to maintain. Exactly. There aren't many Uighurs in Africa, so Africa should be fine.

Do you know what Uighurs are?

I mean, I guess China doesn't so much mind them when they are in Africa. Thousands of miles away. But they're all muslim.

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